Which major star parties have Bortle Class 1 skies?

I'm an easterner and have attended Stellafane which I would rate
Bortle class 3 to 4. The WSP which I would say 3 to 4. Cherry Springs
which I would call 2 to 3. I have not been to Spruce Knob but would
guess based on light pollution data it is probably class 2. Are there
any Class 1 sites in the east?

Looking out west, my view of the light pollution data suggests that
the TSP, Oregon star party and Nebraska star party are the best bets
for Bortle class 1 skies. Can anyone who's attended confirm?

Another consideration for me is the length of the star party. The
Oregon star party seems too short to bother going all the way out
there. Mt Kobou (sp?) in Canada is a longer star party but my look at
the light pollution data suggests it may only be Class 2.

Any star parties I'm missing that are at least 5 days or so to make it
worth my while? I'd really like to try Texas but hate the idea of it
being in June this year.

Alvan Clark

On Sep 18, 7:45 am, wrote:
I'm an easterner and have attended Stellafane which I would rate
Bortle class 3 to 4. The WSP which I would say 3 to 4. Cherry Springs
which I would call 2 to 3. I have not been to Spruce Knob but would
guess based on light pollution data it is probably class 2. Are there
any Class 1 sites in the east?

Alvan

The Oregon Star Party (elevation 5000 feet) is definitely Bortle
class 1 skies. Prineville ( population 8000) 40 miles to the west, is
difficult indeed to even see a light dome.. It is held in the Ochocho
National Forest in a very large clearing with 700+ attendance.
Although the "official" star party is Thursday-Friday-Saturday, many
people camp early and make it a 7-8 day affair. For instance, I came
on Monday and there were already 75 there.

see

http://www.oregonstarparty.org/

for more information.

Jim Jackson







Looking out west, my view of the light pollution data suggests that
the TSP, Oregon star party and Nebraska star party are the best bets
for Bortle class 1 skies. Can anyone who's attended confirm?

Another consideration for me is the length of the star party. The
Oregon star party seems too short to bother going all the way out
there. Mt Kobou (sp?) in Canada is a longer star party but my look at
the light pollution data suggests it may only be Class 2.

Any star parties I'm missing that are at least 5 days or so to make it
worth my while? I'd really like to try Texas but hate the idea of it
being in June this year.

Alvan Clark

Yes, the Nebraska Star Party frequently has Bortle Class 1 skies.
Zenith limiting magnitude figures are in the 7.0 to 8.1 range depending
on the night and the sensitivity of the observer. My eyes are not quite
as sensitive as they used to be, but this last summer at NSP, I reached
about magnitude 7.6 with my unaided eyes. Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 14th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 15th-20th, 2007, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

wrote:

I'm an easterner and have attended Stellafane which I would rate
Bortle class 3 to 4. The WSP which I would say 3 to 4. Cherry Springs
which I would call 2 to 3. I have not been to Spruce Knob but would
guess based on light pollution data it is probably class 2. Are there
any Class 1 sites in the east?

Looking out west, my view of the light pollution data suggests that
the TSP, Oregon star party and Nebraska star party are the best bets
for Bortle class 1 skies. Can anyone who's attended confirm?

Another consideration for me is the length of the star party. The
Oregon star party seems too short to bother going all the way out
there. Mt Kobou (sp?) in Canada is a longer star party but my look at
the light pollution data suggests it may only be Class 2.

Any star parties I'm missing that are at least 5 days or so to make it
worth my while? I'd really like to try Texas but hate the idea of it
being in June this year.

Alvan Clark

Maybe you should explain to people what Bortle Class refers to,

just in case people think you are on drugs and too ****ing smart
to communicate with the rest of reality?

David Knisely wrote:
Yes, the Nebraska Star Party frequently has Bortle Class 1 skies.
Zenith limiting magnitude figures are in the 7.0 to 8.1 range depending
on the night and the sensitivity of the observer. My eyes are not quite
as sensitive as they used to be, but this last summer at NSP, I reached
about magnitude 7.6 with my unaided eyes. Clear skies to you.

Hi, there, David -- and also Alvan and Jim -- and thank you for an
opportunity to Google "Bortle Class" and learn about a very interesting
concept.

Here in Bortle Class 9 territory, the idea of seeing the Milky Way without
an optical aid seems idyllic -- not to mention NELM 7.6 and all the neat
zodiacal light and other effects explained on the Web pages.

Most appreciatively,

Margo Schulter

Lat. 38.566 Long. -121.430

On Sep 19, 12:59 am, Margo Schulter wrote:
David Knisely wrote:
Yes, the Nebraska Star Party frequently has Bortle Class 1 skies.
Zenith limiting magnitude figures are in the 7.0 to 8.1 range depending
on the night and the sensitivity of the observer. My eyes are not quite
as sensitive as they used to be, but this last summer at NSP, I reached
about magnitude 7.6 with my unaided eyes. Clear skies to you.

Hi, there, David -- and also Alvan and Jim -- and thank you for an
opportunity to Google "Bortle Class" and learn about a very interesting
concept.

Here in Bortle Class 9 territory, the idea of seeing the Milky Way without
an optical aid seems idyllic -- not to mention NELM 7.6 and all the neat
zodiacal light and other effects explained on the Web pages.

I have family who live in the B.C. interior, and they have,
depending on how good a night it is, Class 1 or Class 2 skies.
M33 is naked eye, the Milky Way is bright, and there are
so many stars you start to lose the constellations. At
53 degrees north Vega is circumpolar, and it's kinda neat
to see it down in the trees in January. You pay for it
with midnight twilight in June and July.

I'd have to classify Mount Kobau as Class 2 at best, since
the lights of Penticton, Oliver and Osoyoos are starting to
intrude. My usual February getaway on the Gulf of Nicoya
in Costa Rica is Class 2 as well, as long as you're not looking
toward the light dome from Puntarenas. Transparency can
be an issue there, with the monotonous dry season tropical
weather. There is something to be said for observing in
shorts and a t shirt at 0300. :-)

Good skies really are idyllic. And all too rare, alas.

Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Non sequitur. Your ACKS are
Grid: CN89mg uncoordinated."
ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Nomad the Network Engineer

wrote:
Any star parties I'm missing that are at least 5 days or so to make it
worth my while? I'd really like to try Texas but hate the idea of it
being in June this year.

You should take the claims of Bortle 1 skies with a big grain of salt.
In my experience the difference between Bortle 1 and Bortle 2 is much
more about the current weather conditions than the level of light
pollution. In other words, there are not any places in the continental
US that are truly Bortle 1 except on a few exceptional nights.

Clear skies,
Greg

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools: http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html
Observing: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html
Comets: http://comets.skyhound.com

To reply take out your eye

You must be one spoiled brat!

I have family who live in the B.C. interior, and they have,
depending on how good a night it is, Class 1 or Class 2 skies.
M33 is naked eye, the Milky Way is bright, and there are
so many stars you start to lose the constellations. At
53 degrees north Vega is circumpolar, and it's kinda neat
to see it down in the trees in January. You pay for it
with midnight twilight in June and July.

I'd have to classify Mount Kobau as Class 2 at best, since
the lights of Penticton, Oliver and Osoyoos are starting to
intrude. My usual February getaway on the Gulf of Nicoya
in Costa Rica is Class 2 as well, as long as you're not looking
toward the light dome from Puntarenas. Transparency can
be an issue there, with the monotonous dry season tropical
weather. There is something to be said for observing in
shorts and a t shirt at 0300. :-)

Good skies really are idyllic. And all too rare, alas.

Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Non sequitur. Your ACKS are
Grid: CN89mg uncoordinated."
ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Nomad the Network Engineer

Alvan Clark wrote;

Another consideration for me is the length of the star party. The
Oregon star party seems too short to bother going all the way out
there.

**********

Although OSP is advertised as being only 3 days long, the fact of the
matter is that there are a LOT of people who get there early.

IIRC, the porta-potties are delivered by Tuesday at the latest, and
maybe even on Monday.

The last 2 times I attended, I got there on Tuesday and therefore had
5 full nights of observing, and at least 150-200 others did the same
thing.

Since OSP doesn't Officially start until Thursday, however, that means
the other amenities don't start until then, that is, you will have to
wait until then for the roach-coach that serves up Star Burgers all
night and the Latte Tent where you can get fancy coffee, etc.

I've observed all over the West, including TSP, Enchanted Skies in New
Mexico, Northern Arizona Star Party, from Sentinal, Az, from Mt.
Lassen and the Bristlecone Pines in California, and even from
Coonabarabran in Australia, and I must say that when it is good at
OSP, those skies are as dark as anywhere else in the world.

\Paul A

The Bortle scale is rather inconsistent and uses some gages which are
not commonly possible to use, especially towards the faint end. For
example, the claim that in a Bortle 1 sky, "Even with direct vision, M33
is an obvious naked-eye object" is a little exagerative, as for many
people with fairly decent vision, their "dead-on" direct vision stops at
around mag. 4.5 to 5.0 even when fully dark adapted (M33 has a total
integrated magnitude of 5.8). I can easily see M33 with just slightly
*averted* vision from NSP, but if I look directly at the galaxy, it is
gone. Similarly, the use of a description of "color" in things like the
Zodiacal Light and the Milky Way again are questionable, as they are
often below the ability of many people to discern such colors at that
low light level.

For specifics, the Gegenschein, Zodiacal Band, and even some faint high
altitude airglow bands are visible from the site of the Nebraska Star
Party. Its Zenith Limiting magnitude does frequently fall into the
Bortle 1 classification (the record is 8.15 done by Dave Nash at NSP-2).
The Bortle description of the appearance of the Milky Way does match
what is seen at NSP (Milky Way allowing shadows to be cast), and people
have observed Einstein's Cross in a 30 inch from NSP, so you can push
your scope as far as possible on a good night from there. At the very
least, the common ratings for NSP skies are Bortle 1 and Bortle 2
depending on the weather conditions only.

Greg, I don't recall seeing you at the Nebraska Star Party. What year
did you attend?
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 14th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 15th-20th, 2007, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************