Star Parties

$Refractor$

Star Parties

Explore the real night sky with our telescopes. We will bring our four telescopes to your school or special location. Let our viewing expertise guide you and your group through the skies above. See the wonders of the night sky first hand. We have telescopes that your students will be able to use on their own, as well as a larger scope that the party leader will keep on whatever mysterious objects are overhead.

We have six telescopes that we will be bringing along:

A Celestron C-8, an 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. This scope utilizes both mirrors and lenses to give outstanding views of the wonders hidden in the sky. This is the scope that the host will keep busy, so that there will always be something exciting to see.
2 Astroscan 2001 4" Reflectors. These durable little scopes are great instruments for students to become accustomed to using a telescope for the first time.
A Meade 60 mm f/5 Refractor. This is another great scope for you and your students to use on your own. By comparing this scope with the Astroscan, students get a feeling for two very different types of telescopes.
A 6" Newtonian Reflector. This is actually my son's scope, he and I build this from scratch. It always amazes students to learn that this telescope was built by a boy when he was in third grade! With a larger mirror than the last two, it give slightly better views than the Meade Refractor or the Astroscan 2001, but not quite up to the level of the Celestron C-8.
A Reproduction of Galileo's 2" Refractor.
To learn more about how telescopes work visit out telescopes information page.

Considerations:

We need a dark site for a star party to be effective. Being away from the road really helps.
Star Parties are definitely weather contingent. Some schools go for an alternative of a planetarium show if the weather is inclement.
Be aware that Maine is cloudy more than it's clear.
Fall is a great time for star parties because it gets dark early enough, there are no bugs, and it's not too cold.
Winter skies are unbelievably beautiful, but the clearer the sky--the colder the air. Make sure people and especially kids know to dress VERY warm.
Spring skies are difficult for most school star parties because it gets dark so very late. Often times in the spring it's not really dark enough to use telescopes before 9:30 or even 10:00 p.m.. That may be a bit late for elementary school children.
We like to limit the size of the group to less than 100 people. Actually an ideal group size is around 25, but we can accommodate groups of upwards of 100 maximum.
Star Parties are informal and tend to last 90 minutes to two hours.
Cost: $175.00 per Star Party. Call or e-mail us for details.

Northern Stars Planetarium and Educational Services,
P.O. Box 302
Fairfield, ME 04937
(207) 453-7668
info@northern-stars.com