Indiana Family Star Party 2023
Weather looks great for clear skies on Friday and Saturday night! You are invited to see the stars and planets this weekend!
On July 21st and 22nd, join us for our very special 20th Indiana Family Star Party! Come to Camp Cullom (near Frankfort) to enjoy the dark rural skies of the Midwest’s premier star party for families! Learn some constellations, see star clusters, and catch the misty glow of the Milky Way overhead! Prairie Grass Observatory’s telescopes will be available to the public for viewing the sky, and amateur astronomers from across the Midwest will also have their own telescopes set up on a large observing field, some of which will be available for public viewing, with permission from their owners of course.
We begin Friday evening with our ice cream social. Later Friday night, we will hold our popular “Sky Trekker” kids’ program, as well as its extension “Sky Trek Adult” for parents who’d like to join in the fun or just anyone over 18 who’d like to learn some of the summer constellations and look through telescopes! The entire family will be able to learn about the sky together! This year, we are offering a special 5-inch diameter Dobsonian telescope as a Sky Trekker prize for our 20th anniversary! Any child who completes the Sky Trekker program (camping or single-day visitor) will be eligible to put their name in the drawing for this special telescope! Additionally, we will have a prize pair of 10×50 binoculars, some Lego sets, and a few other prizes for kids who complete Sky Trekker, as well as ice cream treats! If it’s cloudy, we will play our cloudy night game and still hold prize drawings.
New This Year (!): Adults completing our Friday night Sky Trek Adult program will be eligible to win a pair of 10×50 binoculars! And on Saturday night, grab your binoculars and come on out to the camp for our Binocular Tour of the Summer Skies where you will be guided to some fun objects to look at through binoculars!
Saturday daytime activities will include our interesting and entertaining speakers, an astro-quiz, the prairie grass walk, a silent auction (and a not-so-silent auction), a swap meet, and our ever-popular door prizes! This year’s speakers include:
- Dr. Dan Milisavljevic, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Purdue University, who will present on discoveries of the James Webb Space Telescope,
- Anthony Karam of Astrobotic Technologies, and
- Dr. Fritz Kleinhans, Emeritus Associate Professor of Physics at IUPUI, who will present on the upcoming total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024!
The IFSP is hosted by three regional astronomy clubs: The Wabash Valley Astronomical Society (Lafayette), the Indiana Astronomical Society (Indianapolis), and the Muncie Astronomy Club. The event will open to the public on July 21-22 at beautiful Camp Cullom, home of the Prairie Grass Observatory. Camp Cullom is known for its dark, star-studded rural sky, affording excellent views of many celestial objects. Summer is the season of star clusters: tight groupings of stars that allow you to see over 100,000 stars at once through a single telescopic eyepiece! In addition to star clusters, many nebulae—ghostly clouds of dust in space—will be visible, as will several fun asterisms. For those who can stay late enough (midnight to 1:00 a.m.), Saturn and its rings will also appear in the sky!
Every year this regional party attracts curious starry-sky lovers, nature lovers, and actual and aspiring amateur astronomers. Join us and explore the skies!
PUBLIC GATE SCHEDULE:
Fri.: 4:00 p.m., gates open. 12:00 midnight, gates close.*
Sat: 10:00 a.m., gates open. 12:00 midnight, gates close.*
Note: During these times, the registration booth at the single day parking lot will be open. After arrival, visitors may stay at the star party as late as they choose, but shuttle service back to the parking lot stops at 12:00 a.m. Camping for the full event is also available, see details below: Registration and Camping.
*Gates may close earlier if weather is cloudy or rainy.
ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS:
Friday Only:
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.: Daytime solar observing at the observatory buildings. View through a large aperture hydrogen alpha solar filter to see “tongues of fire” on the outer perimeter of the sun if conditions are right.
4:00 p.m. – 7:45 p.m.: Sky Trekker/Sky Trek Adult sign-up at the Information Room in the Nature Center. Sign-up is computerized, so you will need to contact the Sky Trekker coordinator, Lisa Wieland, or one of her assistants to sign up early.
6:30 p.m.: Ice Cream Social at the Nature Center, followed by an orientation and roundtable discussion at 7:00.
7:45 p.m.: Sky Trekker/Sky Trek Adult sign-up closes.
8:00 p.m.: Sky Trekker/Sky Trek Adult Launch meeting in the Nature Center. Planispheres will be handed out at this meeting.
Saturday Only:
10:30 a.m.: The Astro Quiz will be given at the Nature Center.
12:00 Noon: Items may be entered into the silent auction at the Nature Center, Bird Watch Area.
1:00 p.m.: Astronomy presentations begin at the Nature Center.
6:00 p.m.: Quiz awards and door prizes will be distributed in the Nature Center.
10:00 p.m.: Binocular Tour of the Summer Sky at the Galileo Gallery
Friday and Saturday:
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 Noon: Swap meet at the Picnic Shelter.
8:30 p.m.: Beginning Astronomy Workshop
10:00 p.m.: Movies will begin in the Nature Center
See the IFSP website for more details: https://indianastars.com/starparty/.
ADMISSION:
Daily admission on July 21 & 22 is still just $5.00 per person or $15.00 for a carload of three or more people for a single day and evening. Please be prepared to pay cash at the gate or write a check! The remote location of the check-in booth prevents us from being able to accept credit cards. We apologize for the inconvenience. See Registration & Camping below for Admission fees for Full Event (July 18-23) campers.
If you want to bring in a telescope for a single day, you can either bring it on the hay wagon or, if you arrive during daylight hours, you can drive it to the observing field, and then return your car to the “single day” parking lot before dark. But then you’ll have to carry your telescope back to the parking lot when you leave (with the hay wagon available until midnight).
PARKING:
Parking, for those not purchasing a Full Event pass (see below), will be on a separate field a few hundred yards from the observing field. During evening hours, the camp’s ranger will be driving a hay wagon back and forth to provide transportation between the parking area and observing field, but only until midnight. This arrangement minimizes car headlight interference on the observing field.
FULL EVENT REGISTRATION & CAMPING:
Camping on the grounds and a 3-day extension of the star party are available for those who are interested. This package includes a 3-day extension of the star party (Jul. 18-23), plus parking/camping on the observing field or one of the camp’s other campsites. Early Registration Discount prices are $25.00/individual or $35.00/family, through July 5. Registration prices after July 5 or at-gate are $50.00/individual or $60.00/family. To park and/or camp on the observing field, you must purchase the full event pass.
If you plan to stay multiple days, but want to stay at a hotel at night, you will have to move your car off of the observing field before dark since driving is not permitted on the observing field after dark. If you plan to leave equipment set up on the observing field overnight, you must purchase the full event pass, even if you park in the single-day parking lot at night.
For more information, go to https://indianastars.com/starparty/, or, if you do not have internet access, contact the Wabash Valley Astronomical Society, P.O. Box 2020, West Lafayette, IN 47996-2020 or email to [email protected]. Registration forms must be postmarked no later than July 5 to avoid the higher late registration fees.
AMENITIES:
Prepared food will be available for purchase at mealtimes starting on Friday afternoon, however, those wishing to bring their own food may do so. Please note that no campfires will be allowed near the observing field, but camp stoves are acceptable before sunset. There are charcoal grills available in most of the non-observing-field campsites.
The camp has restroom facilities with running water and showers. The shower schedule is posted in the event program.
The Nature Center, where many activities and gatherings will take place, is air-conditioned, and close to both the observing field and observatory buildings.
Movies will be shown Friday and Saturday nights in the Nature Center with free popcorn available.
RULES:
ABSOLUTELY NO alcoholic beverages are allowed on the grounds at any time.
Camp Sites: Campers may only reserve ONE camp site next to them for a friend; blocks of camp sites may not be reserved.
Walkie Talkies: Channel 11 is to be reserved for star party communications only. Attendees may use another channel for non-star-party related communications.
Generators must be located on the north side of the road to the Lodge and can only be run from noon to 8:00 p.m. At all other times they must be off.
All net proceeds from the admission fee are applied toward maintaining the Prairie Grass Observatory and Camp Cullom (Clinton County Foundation for Youth), a non-profit United Way Agency.
