2022 Maine State Star Party

This past weekend I attended the 2022 Maine State Star Party at Cobscook Bay State Park in Dennysville, Maine. I arrived late Friday afternoon. Weather was pretty bad, cloudy & misty which eventually turned to light rain so no observing was done. We were finally given access to camp and observe from the large field inside the park which has the best views as compared to the campsites that we were using in the past. Saturday’s events included talks on black holes, solar eclipses, and a demonstration on silvering a telescope mirror with our own CMAS member Colin. Unfortunately no solar observing was possible due to the clouds hanging on until just before dark.

After dark we had a couple of hours of viewing before the dew finally won out and drenched everyone’s telescopes. I enjoyed meeting a new attendee from Connecticut who brought a nice astrophotography setup and seeing how the ZWO ASIAir works. He worked on collecting images of M31 Andromeda Galaxy. I tried to take photos of everyone’s telescopes and binoculars setup on the observing field, but may have missed a few. I spent time with my scope looking at Saturn (some of the best views that I’ve ever had, easily see Cassini division, cloud bands and rings), Jupiter and its moons, M13 Globular Cluster in Hercules, M57 Ring Nebula, and M31 Andromeda Galaxy. Most of that time was spent discussing with a new attendee and her husband about a tour business that she is working on.

Here are some photos from the event.