Introduction to Stargazing and Star Parties

Most are familiar with the TV show "Dancing With The Stars". In reality it's more like
celebrities dancing with celebrities accompanied by pithy comments by the judges. It's
not for me as I'd rather watch the real stars, the planets and moon dancing across the
celestial heaven.

When a group of stargazers with telescopes meet to share the night sky, lit up with
billions of stars, it's called a "Star Party". That is nature's own reality show or dare I say
it, dancing with the stars.

As we stand here on our little blue marble, or as some say, "the third rock from the Sun",
it appears as if the stars, the planets and moon move mystically across the heavens. Is
that so or is it all "relative". Yes, it's the theory by that pesky, little, fellow with the
white mustache and un-cropped hair (Einstein) at work.

As stargazers we are blessed, we don't have to deal with quadratic equations, differential
calculus or quantum physics to enjoy the night skies, the stars and things that go bump in
the night. The Theory of Relativity plays into our hands as everything is in motion. Our
planet rotates in a circular motion giving us day and night ... that's a good thing. All the
while earth's elliptical orbit around the Sun gives us winter, spring, summer and

fall ... that's great! Our solar system is located in the Sagittarius arm of the Milky Way
Galaxy that's also in motion ... can't get much better than this!! But what does all this
mean? Glad you asked!

Since our "little blue marble" rotates around, night to day, we as stargazers get to view
new stars and things that go bump in the night as the night progresses. Furthermore as
our planet orbits the Sun the seasons change with our position relative to the sun so we
get to see new areas of the celestial heaven ... think of it as even more dance partners. As
our galaxy rotates it now becomes a cosmic dance within the universe.

All said star parties, like ice cream, come in differing flavors from club parties along a
ridge in the Hualapai's or the club's private dark sky site to national conference/star party
held by the Astronomical League where seminars are held and major vendors let the
participants get up close and personal with their latest and greatest offerings. Beyond
that clubs hold special events like going to the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff or our
National Optical Observatory at Kitt Peak near Tucson and other sometimes-whimsical
events - more on that later.

Life is a dance in many ways. Come join us at a star party. We'll have you dancing with
the stars in no time as stargazer's love to share all those dance partners in the night sky
including the moon and planets in our solar system.

B. T. Luontela, Stargazer