2010 HiDAS Schedule

Astronomical observing is a very special time at the Luz Observatory. During these times, the observatory is open to the public. We encourage families to come, and please include the children. There is no charge to participate at the public viewings, and everyone will have the opportunity to view the skies through the powerful telescopes under guidance of on site astronomers. Though this is not a structured class or lecture, the astronomers are there to explain some of the wonders of the universe.

 

 

December 2009

 

4th  7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College.

 

5th, 6:30 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

 

11th, 6:30 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

 

19th at dusk   Star Party at the Johnson road site.

 

There is no HiDAS meeting scheduled for December.

 

 January 2010

 

15th, 6:30 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

 

16th at dusk   Star Party at the Johnson road site

 

22nd 6:30.pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

 

23rd 7pm  HiDAS club meeting at the  Lewis Center , Public viewing to follow at 8:30pm. Everyone is invited to attend. 20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley, CA. 92307

 

29th  7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College.

 

 

 

 February

 

5th  7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College

 

12th, 6:30 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

 

13th at dusk   Star Party at the Johnson road site

 

19th, 6:30 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

 

20th 7pm  HiDAS club meeting at the  Lewis Center , Public viewing to follow at 8:30pm. Everyone is invited to attend. 20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley, CA. 92307

 

26th  7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College.

 

 

 

 March

 

5th  7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College.

 

12th, 7:00 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

 12th &13th  Camping with the stars! Afton Canyon Dark Sky Star party and Messier Marathon located in the Afton Canyon campground.

.19th, 7:00 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

20th 7pm  HiDAS club meeting at the Lewis Center , Mojave River Campus 17500 Mana Rd. Bldg. C,. Apple Valley, CA. 92307. Brian Day of NASA will be our special guest. Day will speak on the LCROSS mission, it's history and current discoveries plus his life chasing solar eclipses around the world!

 26th 6:30 pm we will be holding a SIDEWALK ASTRONOMY event at 1010 W. Main St. in Barstow. This event will be advertised in the Barstow newspaper.

26th  7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College.

 

M April

 April

 

9th, 8:00 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

 

NEW STAR PARTY SITE!

 10th at dusk, HiDAS Star Party at the Wild Wash Road site.

 

16th, 8:00 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

 

17th 7pm  HiDAS club meeting at the  Lewis Center , Public viewing to follow at 8:30pm. Everyone is invited to attend. 20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley, CA. 92307

 

23rd 7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College.

 

30th pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College.

 

 

 

 

 

May

7th 7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College.

 

14th 8:00 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

 

15th at dusk, for members who do not attend RTMC there will be a HiDAS Star Party at the Wild Wash Road site.

 

 

The 42nd annual RTMC Astronomy Expo will take place on Wednesday, May 12 through Sunday, May 16

 

21st 8:00 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

 

22nd 7pm  HiDAS club meeting at the  Lewis Center , Public viewing to follow at 8:30pm. Everyone is invited to attend. 20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley, CA. 92307

 

 

 June

 

4th, 8:00 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

11th, 8:00 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

12th  5pm HiDAS Annual Potluck Star Party for club members.  This event will be held at the home of the Deuels

 

18th at dusk we will have telescopes set up at Barnes & Noble at The Mall of Victor Valley 14400 Bear Valley Road Victorville, CA 92392. Feel free to join us!

 

19th 7pm  HiDAS club meeting at the  Lewis Center , Public viewing to follow at 8:30pm. Everyone is invited to attend. 20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley, CA. 92307

 July

 

 

10th at dusk, HiDAS Star Party at the Johnson Road site in Apple Valley

 

.16th, 8:30 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

 

 16th at dusk we will have telescopes set up at Barnes & Noble at The Mall of Victor Valley 14400 Bear Valley Road Victorville, CA 92392. Feel free to join us!

 

23rd 8:30 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

 

24th 7pm  HiDAS club meeting at the  Lewis Center , Public viewing to follow at 8:30pm. Everyone is invited to attend. 20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley, CA. 92307

 

 

 August

 

7th  at dusk, Star Party at the Wild Wash Road site

.13th, 8:30 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

14th 7pm  HiDAS club meeting at the  Lewis Center , Public viewing to follow at 8:30pm. Everyone is invited to attend. 20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley, CA. 92307

20th, 8:00 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

20th at dusk we will have telescopes set up at Barnes & Noble at The Mall of Victor Valley 14400 Bear Valley Road Victorville, CA 92392. Feel free to join us!

 

27th 7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College.

 

 September

 

3rd, 7:30 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

4th,  5pm  HiDAS STAR-B-QUE Star Party for club members.  This event will be held at the home of the Bishops'

10th 7:30 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

11th 7pm  HiDAS club meeting at the  Lewis Center , Public viewing to follow at 8:30pm. Everyone is invited to attend. 20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley, CA. 92307

17th 7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College

 17th at dusk we will have telescopes set up at Barnes & Noble at The Mall of Victor Valley 14400 Bear Valley Road Victorville, CA 92392. Feel free to join us!

18th & 19th  Pacific Astronomy and Telescope Show .at the Pasadena Convention Center.

24th 7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College.

 October

1st, 7:00 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

2nd at dusk. Pinion Hills Chamber of Commerce star party.

8th 7:00 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

8th & 9th  Camping with the stars! Afton Canyon Dark Sky Star party located in the Afton Canyon campground.

15th 7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College.

 15th at dusk we will have telescopes set up at Barnes & Noble at The Mall of Victor Valley 14400 Bear Valley Road Victorville, CA 92392. Feel free to join us!

 22nd 7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College.

 23rd 7pm  HiDAS club meeting at the  Lewis Center , Public viewing to follow at 8:30pm. Everyone is invited to attend. 20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley, CA. 92307

 

 November

 

5th 7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College.

6th  Star Party at the Wild Wash Road site

12th 6:30 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

19th 7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College.

 19th at dusk we will have telescopes set up at Barnes & Noble at The Mall of Victor Valley 14400 Bear Valley Road Victorville, CA 92392. Feel free to join us!

20th 7pm  HiDAS club meeting at the  Lewis Center , Public viewing to follow at 8:30pm. Everyone is invited to attend. 20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley, CA. 92307

 December 2010

3rd  7pm Planetarium show at the Victor Valley College.

4th, 6:30 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

10th, 6:30 pm- Public viewing at the Lewis Center,  20702 Thunderbird Rd. Apple Valley

11th at dusk star party at the Johnson Rd. site, we want to keep this near by since it will be cold.

No meeting Scheduled for December

 

   

Star Party Rules.


1. The first rule is to have fun. Move around and visit all of the scopes. Talk with the owners and learn about their scopes. This will help you in deciding what scope you would like to purchase in the future.

2.  Bright lights are fundamentally frowned upon after dark. Dome lights in vehicles should be switched off and the use of any flashlight should be covered with red plastic or red paint. Red light affects the eye's dark adaptation the least. Use flashlights that have give off red light.

3. Keep young children under control. There is a lot of expensive hardware around for them to run into.

4. Most of our sites there will be parking a short distance from the viewing site. Many of the sites are chosen for the accessibility of driving your car to your viewing spot. If you did not bring a viewing instrument, please consider parking a short distance away from the viewing site. If you absolutely need to use a white light please warn everybody, that way they can protect  their eyes  from the light.

5. Most of our sites are in the desert and tend to be rather dusty, especially in summer, and dust on a mirror is seldom beneficial. Be careful when driving or walking. When powering your scope from your car, try to tuck the power cord away so as to minimize danger of tripping over it.

6. Soft music in the background is relaxing and tends to hide the boring noises of the night. If you are going to play music, please check with others to make sure you don't disturb them with your music. Tastes in music differ so violently so please respect others requests to turn it down or even off.

7. Eventually you will want to view the sky through another person's scope. Before moving another's scope, be sure to ask if you can peer into it. Some scopes have electrical lines running in weird places.

8. Always bring some extra warm clothing. Few people realize just how chilly it gets out here in the desert nights. In the summer, a light and heavy jacket, warm shirt, jeans may be all you need. The Winter calls for insulated boots, thermal underwear, corduroy jeans, parka, flannel shirt, gloves, and, very important, a warm knit cap! The greatest heat loss is from your head, so you'll want the hood on your coat, too, especially if there's a breeze.

9. You'll need extra energy to remain effective through an observing session, so you'll want to bring along plenty of sandwiches, snacks, coffee, and soft drinks .


10. Be sure to properly dispose of wrappings, cans, bottle caps, etc. so that we continue to be welcome in the various sites. If you bring it with you, take it with you when you leave.

11. Never leave anyone by themselves at the end of the evening, we don't want anyone to be stranded alone.

 

 

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