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On air star party

Submitted by b3rick on Tue, 05/06/2008 - 9:29pm.

Tonight between 8:30 and 9 PM some of us watched the crescent moon and the planet Mercury low in the western sky and were able to discuss it on the repeater. We also saw Mars and Saturn. Check-ins to the star party were from Friendship, Lothian, Bowie, Glen Burnie, and more. KK4GV, N3USP, KB3PEB, KB3MPR, WD9GBC, and a few other stations participated. It was great fun and we will do it again.

73, Rick -KK4GV

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Some more notes

Submitted by gbock on Tue, 05/06/2008 - 9:36pm.

Wow! That was the most unique star party I've ever participated in! We also had someone check in all the way from Towson! The locations of Mercury, Mars and Saturn were pointed out, helping several people track them down, as well as some of the brighter named stars, Arcturus, Regulus, and the region of the sky with the largest concentration of galaxies in our sky between Leo and Bootes (The Virgo Super-Cluster). Definitely the handiest use of HAM radio to connect many people over a large area to view a rare astronomical event, a naked eye Mercury and the moon.

Glenn N3USP

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And later some satellites

Submitted by gbock on Tue, 05/06/2008 - 10:04pm.

KK4GV and N3USP were also able to track down an expended Russian Booster SL-16 (85097B, visual magnitude 3.4) and Rick independently observed one later identified as SL-14 Booster (86018B, visual magnitude 4.0). Both boosters lofted Russian Payloads back in the fall/winter of 1985/86.

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Photo Link

Submitted by b3rick on Wed, 05/07/2008 - 8:04am.

Here is a link to a photo of what all the excitement was about. It was taken by John KD3RW.

http://www.pbase.com/macpurity/image/96707060

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Thanks for the link

Submitted by kd3rw on Wed, 05/07/2008 - 8:59pm.

Thanks for the link, Rick. I didn't realize that there are forums out here. Now that I have set up an account, I'll try to get more active on the forums. Nice net on 5/7, too. 73, fellow star gazers

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