Saturday May 11, 2024, 7:30 to 10:30 pm, San Francisco Amateur Astronomers will present a public star party at Mount Tamalpais Rock Springs parking area, in collaboration with the Friends of Mount Tamalpais and Mt.Tam State Park. Here is more information from the Friends of Mount Tam:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mt-tam-star-party-tickets-869513166287
SFAA members have two options for this event. You can either attend as a visitor, or you can volunteer to bring a telescope for public viewing.
1) If you want to attend without bringing a telescope, you need to make a reservation through eventbrite at the above link. Please feel free to share this invitation with other people. Reservations will probably fill up quickly.
2) We need volunteers with telescopes. If you will bring a telescope to share with visitors, please send an email to Anthony Barreiro, anthonybarreiro@yahoo.com. We will come up with a list of objects to observe, figure out whose instruments are best for which targets, and plan how we're going to describe and explain to people what they're looking at. If you already have one, two, or three objects you want to show people, please include that in your email. We'll start planning and organizing in earnest after the solar eclipse.
If you're considering bringing a telescope, please note that this is a public outreach event, a chance to share our love of the sky with folks who otherwise would not have the opportunity to see the universe through a telescope. Friends of Mt. Tam and the State Park rangers are very excited and supportive of this event. People ask them all the time when the telescopes are coming back. By providing a good variety of telescopes, a broad range of objects to observe, and knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteers, SFAA will make a lot of people happy, strengthen our relationships with the Friends of Mount Tam and the State Park, and earn goodwill for our members nights. (If you want to do imaging or your own telescope observing, there are other nights for that. This is a public outreach event.)
IF YOU VOLUNTEER TO BRING A TELESCOPE, DO NOT REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE. We will have a separate roster for volunteers.
