It was about a 3-hour drive to the star party high in the Rocky Mountains. I was one of the invited speakers and was going up to give a talk about observing comets. The idea was that maybe there’d be a couple of talented amateur astronomers who might be interested in chasing comet tail for our team at the University. So, I packed up a trayful of slides, some warm clothes, and a couple of blankets and headed for the hills. The star party site was in a huge meadow reachable by 4-wheel drive, so of course I drove my Mitsubishi Eclipse up there. Got in okay, parked the car and headed for the main tent where they said there’d be a slide projector and screen set up.
I noticed about a dozen or so telescopes set up here and there, and little knots of people standing around each one, most of them watching another one do the scope setup. The sky was absolutely, utterly clear and it was going to be a nice summer night of stargazing. I introduced myself to the star party’s host and he took me over to the slide projector so I could drop the tray onto it. Then we went over and got some dinner. It was the first star party I’d ever lectured at and only the second organized event I had ever attended.
After a burger and some beans and general chat with some of the other attendees, my host decided it was time for me to give my talk. He introduced me as one of the comet researchers from the University of Colorado and turned the mike over to me. I went on for about 30 minutes, showing everybody the kinds of images we were hoping to get from folks like them, and then spent a little while answering questions. By the time I wrapped, it was nice and dark outside and it was time for some stargazing.
The best parts about being a guest speaker at a star party (aside from the free food) is meeting a lot of really nice people and being able to wander around at will doing what I later learned is called “parasitic stargazing.” That’s when you don’t have a scope of your own so you look through everybody else’s. As a guest, I was welcome at everybody’s eyepiece, and that night I saw a lot of cool stuff. By the time I crawled into the back of my car for a snooze around 3 a.m., I’d probably been up and down the summer Milky Way a few times at many different magnifications. It was great!
That star party, called the Rocky Mountain Star Stare, takes place every year. And so do many, many others, at dark sky sites scattered around the world. The year after I visited that one, I began working at Sky & Telescope, and over the next four years I visited star parties every year. I went from Boston to Vermont to Canada, over to Nebraska, out to New Mexico, and down to Pennsylvania a few times, and even took in a star party over in Europe. Each time was great fun, and each time I had the privilege of sharing some great tidbits about Big Astronomy or “Behind the Scenes at Sky & Tel” or other equally interesting topics with thousands of strangers who quickly became friends. And each time I was made welcome at the eyepieces of some really cool telescopes.
There are few better things people can do with their lives than stand out under an open sky with a group of strangers and simply admire the heavens. It’s an amazing experience. And I’ll never forget how much fun it was when I was doing it as part of my job. It was hard to believe I could have that much fun and get paid for doing it!

Check out the Sky While You’re At It

Sometimes people think that you have to set aside hours and hours to do stargazing. It ain’t so! Some evenings you can take a big bite in a short time, what I like to think of as “Big Gulp” stargazing. Last night when I went to put the trash out, I stood there and took in the crescent Moon and Venus low in the western sky. Over in the southwest, Orion was doing his thing, and high overhead Saturn glittered in Gemini. Jupiter was hanging there in the East. Lots of stuff to take in on just one quick trip out with the trash cans! Now, if you want to try it, take along a pair of binoculars and check out the planets or the Orion Nebula. Tonight (Tuesday, Feb. 24), the crescent Moon, Mars, and Venus will all be lined up low in the west after sunset. Wednesday night, the Moon and Mars will be very close together. It’s a free star show, and all you have to do is step outside after sunset and look up! (And hope it isn’t cloudy.)