Hello Arizona observers;
Rick Rotrammel mentioned folks leaving the All Arizona Star Party without
giving a shout so people could close their eyes and it motivated me to write
this email. I believe that this type of problem is just going to get worse if
we don't do anything about it. As Rick said....it just seems like something to
put up with if you are at a site with lots of people. I think that we need to
change that.
Already we have chased all the long exposure astrophotographers away from any
type of star party that involves lots of people. They have learned that
ingnorant folks are going to mess up a long exposure with headlights or the
interior lights from their vehicles.
I would be willing to say that the times I have attended large Arizona
gathering, I don't take a list of very faint deep sky objects because I know
that this type of list will be tough to complete. I dearly love to meet and
chat with observers from all around the world, but this problem is not going to
help.
So, let's be creative here. Yes, I have already thought of all types of
violent things we could do to the perpetrators of light splash. We are big
enough to get past that. Let's all stop creating a mental image of someone
hung out to dry to with a sign on them. Maybe a carefully worded announcement
at sunset, maybe a handout for folks to read that has a reasonable set of rules
on it.
I don't have an answer, but I say that it is time to address this problem or it
will just get worse and we will have fewer and fewer people show up at large
gathering of observers. I enjoy a big club star party or the Messier Marathon
too much to give it up because folks choose not to demonstrate some courtesy
toward other astronomers.
Steve Coe
stevecoe@xxxxxxxxx
Author: Deep Sky Observing--The Astronomical Tourist
Saguaro Astronomy Club web site:
www.saguaroastro.org
---
This message is from the AZ-Observing mailing list. If you wish to be
removed from this list, send E-mail to: AZ-Observing-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
with the subject: unsubscribe.
The list's archive is at: http://www.freelists.org/archives/az-observing
This is a discussion list. Please send personal inquiries directly to
the message author. In other words, do not use "reply" for personal
messages. Thanks.
