By MAGGIE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
Dozens of southern Nevada residents were able to get a little bit closer to satisfying their own curiosity about the stars on Saturday night at a local stargazing event. Las Vegas Astronomical Society (LVAS) members, in conjunction with the Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge, brought their own telescopes and knowledge to Moapa Valley to share with the public. The event was held at the refuge in Warm Springs and was free to the public. But because of parking limitations, attendance was limited to about 75 people.
Barbara Michel, US Fish and Wildlife Visitor Service Specialist explained, “We haven’t had a stargazing event out here for at least four years and we are excited to offer it again. We were surprised by the phenomenal response we got. Tickets were completely snapped up within the first two days.”
Those lucky enough to get a ticket met at dusk at the refuge and were issued a red light flashlight or red cellophane to put over their own flashlights.
Greg McKay, president of the Las Vegas Astronomical Society, explained the role that light pollution plays in stargazing. He said that light is judged according to the Bortle scale of light pollution where a score of 9 is the worst and 1 is the best.
“Las Vegas has a score of 9, making it one of the worst places to try to look at stars,” McKay said. “Near the strip on a good night there are less than 30 stars visible to the naked eye. Out here at the refuge, we have a score of about 3, making it an excellent place to be able to explore the stars.”
There were 9 different stations, each with a telescope trained on a different sight in the night sky. There were several different kinds of telescopes to look through and their owners were patient and enthusiastic in answering questions both about the telescopes themselves and the sights they were trained on.
Julian Shull had the largest telescope there. The viewfinder could only be accessed by climbing a ladder and the base alone weighed 160 pounds. Even more amazingly, Schull constructed the telescope himself.
“It is a 16” aperture Newtonian telescope with a Dobsonian base,” Shull said. “Constructing telescopes is a hobby of mine because I can make exactly what I want and end up with a telescope that I love.”
Shull was partnered with young Cameron Johnson, 13. Johnson wants to be an astrophysicist when he grows up. “I love looking at Saturn because if it is a good telescope and a good night, you can see the space between the individual rings and it is just so cool,” he said.
Bill Pickard had a bino-telescope, which is essentially two telescopes hooked together like binoculars with a lens for both eyes. It was showcasing Albiero, which he said was the the most beautiful double star in the sky, with one blue star and one yellow.
One of the easiest displays view was set up by Keith Caceres, the vice-president of special events for the LVAS. Caceres had his telescope hooked to two computers that displayed his live astro-photography on their screens. Visitors didn’t even have to use the viewfinder. Caceres was also able to show stars and nebulae he had photographed earlier throughout the evening as he moved his telescope around. At one point he focused on a planetary nebula and explained to attendees how nebulae were formed. The view of this “dumbell” nebula was a favorite of many attendees, especially kids.
Visitors were thrilled with the opportunity to see into the heavens. Branden and Lisa Conk from Logandale brought their two kids Megan, 11, and Kolson, 4, to see the stars.
“We saw it on Facebook and thought it would be a fun family activity and it has been,” Lisa said. “We’ve had a great time.”
Megan agreed. “I really liked that the people talked to us and told us what we were looking at and what was going on,” she said. “I liked that I got to see stars that were all different colors.”
There were lots of locals, but there were plenty of visitors from Vegas as well. Arthur Barlow, 17, from Vegas came with his dad and little sister. “We don’t see many stars in Vegas,” he said. “It was a beautiful night, I had a great time, and I got to see a lot of stars.”
The LVAS and the Moapa Valley Wildlife Refuge are hoping to make this an annual event. In the meantime, the LVAS has stargazing events at other locations as well throughout the year. More information can be found on their Facebook page: Las Vegas Astronomical Society.
