Vasquez Rocks Star Party

by: Dave Flynn

As I was driving south on I - 5 to the 14 fwy to head out to Vasquez Rocks, I was concerned about the thick cloud layer which appear to have the entire Southern skies socked in. It appeared the 14 fwy was the dividing line for these clouds as they covered the horizon completely from the East to the West and everything to the South.

Upon arriving  at Vasquez Rocks I made contact with the park staff and discuss the possibility of having to cancel tonight's event.  Using one of the park staff's smart phone, she was able to check the weather forecast for the night, 10% cloud cover is what it showed. We decided to continue with the event hoping for clearer skies.

I drove over to the set up area and met two astronomers who were already set up, we had a brief discussion about the clouds and they too using their smart phones were able to confirmed the skies would be cleared by 7:00 pm.

After setting my telescope up I had some time to sit and relax before everyone started arriving.

The sun was getting low on the horizon and the temperature was still warm, there was no wind and the clouds did not look as they would be moving out anytime soon.

At about 5:30 pm our members began arriving and soon everyone was ready for tonight's event, and as on cue, the clouds moved South leaving us with a beautiful night sky and perfect temperatures.

With a small turn out of about 75 people, we had a good time interacting with everyone. We had more time to talk with the public answering the many question they had and to explore more of the sky.

There were two men who were here visiting from Germany and for their last day here, came to Vasquez Rocks to enjoy its natural beauty, they stayed for the entire event.

By 9:30 pm most of the crowd was gone and the night began to get quiet, gone were the kids running around from one telescope to the other and the students that came with their many questions answered were on their way home.

We were soon packing our telescopes away to make our journey home and with everyone packed we said our good byes before driving off.

I took one more look around the set up area to make sure no one had left anything. I looked to the west and could see the head lights of the cars driving out reflecting off the well known recognizable rocks, I was soon in line following everyone out.

Glenn