Connecticut Star Party 34

September 6-8, 2024, Goshen, CT

By Donna Pursley

Leading up to CSP, the forecast changed many times, but it looked like we would get at least one good night of viewing. The crew that sets up the fields and cleans the buildings got to the site at about 11am. Everyone did a good job and with all the help I think it went a bit more smoothly than usual.

We enjoyed Friday night’s dinner and then went out to the Camporee Field. We were a bit out of practice so it took a little longer than we would have liked to get the scope collimated. I was able to find a few dark sky objects in my scope during this time. There seemed to be a ton of satellites and a few shooting stars. Then the clouds started showing up on the horizons. Soon there were only a few holes left to view through. We stopped by the warming tent to have a late-night snack and drove around to our bunks.

Saturday morning was foggy. There were three speakers and all were very good. Pete Kandefer talked about predicting auroras. Dr. Nour Raouafi discussed the exciting explorations of the Parker Solar Probe mission. Dr. Ariel Graykowski talked about how amateurs can make scientific contributions through the Unistellar Citizen Science Project. With three speakers, the day seemed to fly by. Before you knew it, it was time to take the group photo which we did between the rain showers.

This year, we had 15 children! It is nice to see the younger people interested in coming to CSP. As always, Greg and Cheryl had door prizes for all the kids. The prizes were a big hit as they were playing with them while the adult prizes were being given out. There was some nice jewelry given out during the raffle. So the guys can bring something home to a woman in their life. There was a huge late afternoon rain shower and then we enjoyed dinner.

Many had packed up their scopes on Saturday morning because of the impending rain. Others left after Saturday’s dinner. A few die-hards came out after the storm passed by for some viewing. I was told that it clouded up later on Saturday night.

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning and the few of us that were left had pastries for breakfast. Our crew cleaned up the buildings and the fields. I think we were out by the 11am cutoff. We might not have had clear skies, but the time together with like-minded people that we only see once a year makes going to CSP well worth it.