"My name is Randall Williams.
I'm 15 years old and live in Fort Worth, TX. Recently my friend Nick and I went to a Star Party at the Fort Worth Prairie Park and explored the nighttime sky.
We got a chance to see a couple of planets up close, namely Jupiter and Saturn. Something that was even more amazing and interesting was being able to see Jupiter's moons.
One thing I thought was extremely interesting is how stars are grouped into constellations, one of which is the Big Dipper it points to the North Star. it always shows you which way north is. We saw other constellations that were part of the zodiac. A few examples of these were Virgo and Gemini.
The Fort Worth Astronomical Society (FWAS), a group of amateur astronomers, provided telescopes and gave us a lot of information about what we were seeing and that was useful and fascinating.
Overall I thought this was a great experience. We loved it and learned a lot."
~Randall Williams, Fort Worth, TX
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Saturn photo by Keith Frost. 4 May 2013, Fort Worth Prairie Park.
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Editors' Notes:
Great Plains Restoration Council and Friends of the Fort Worth Prairie Park recently hosted the first Star Party at the Fort Worth Prairie Park, as part of the international GLOBE at Night http://www.globeatnight.org event monitoring light pollution.
After the last of the sunset vanished, attendees were enveloped in the cold prairie darkness, and only heard the anxious howling of coyotes and the always-present wind.
The May night was unusually cold for this time of the Texas year, as has been this year's long-drawn out advent of Spring.
(Hopefully it's just a Plains variable and not the "Kicking the Refrigerator Door Open"
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Setting up for the Star Party on the Fort Worth Prairie Park before guests arrive.
Photo by Chris Emory/Sun Dog Photography
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Stars and planets beyond distances anybody can truly grasp were viewed through large telescopes set up on the prairie's gravel road. Attendees learned about the 'ocean of air' in our atmosphere that causes celestial objects to wobble in our view shed.
We strived to comprehend the enormity of the Universe. As one astronomer said, "infinite possibilities. Anything you could imagine."
Seeing all three Jovian moons glowing so brightly, or wondering at Saturn, or the Sombrero Galaxy ( when we can barely comprehend our own Milky Way galaxy), or the double star of Iota Cancri, (ne blue hot and small and the other yellowing and expanded and older) made the Metroplex's bubble of glow at our backs impermanent.
And that was when we realized light pollution is one pollution problem that can be fixed. It's not permanent like so much of our human-caused damage, and can be fixed at any time.
The prairie and the night sky, and the ocean too, for that matter, share the culture of open country. Stay tuned for another Star event on the Fort Worth Prairie Park this summer!
-Great Plains Restoration Council
