JOINT MEETING-STAR PARTY OF THE SW ASTROPHYSICISTS AND ARIZONA OBSERVERS On October 22, 2011, Saturday (a week before the All Arizona Star Party), I am having a joint meeting-star party, of the SW (South West) Astrophysicists (http://tech.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/SW-Astrophysics/ ) and Arizona Observers at Blue Hills Observatory in Dewey, Arizona. Blue Hills Observatory is at about 5140 ft. elevation and is about 90 miles north of Phoenix. I will provided directions on how to get here to those who plan on attending. This is the second meeting of SW Astrophysicists - the first one was held in September, 2008. This event is the result of repeated suggestions by Jeff Hopkins. In addition to being a traditional star party, it will also be a spectroscopic star party, although the spectroscopy part may be small, consisting of, at the minimum, myself and Jeff Hopkins. I know of at least one other individual that may attend who has a spectrometer. I will have my LHIRES III (a high resolution spectrometer) mounted on my Meade 16” LX200R. Jeff will bring his 8" LX 90 and his EXT60. He uses the EXT60 with an eyepiece Star Analyser combination, and he uses either a DSI Pro II or Toucam with a Star Analyser for the LX90. He will also demo some spectra with RSpec. Spectroscopic star parties occur in Europe and so why not here? This is not a spectrometry workshop, but I and Jeff and will demonstrate-teach anyone who requests it on how to take a spectrum and how to reduce (process) it. I have had at least three other star parties here in the past. It is still a good location for observing and is comparable to the Cherry Road site. I have a large lot for setting up telescopes and camping overnight. Those who are not familiar with the location can get some idea of what it is like at http://users.commspeed.net/stanlep/permanentobservatoryns.html The format is open to changes, but tentatively, it is set up to start at 3:00pm for anyone who wants to show up that early and socialize before dinner. The dinner will be a pot luck and will start around 5:00. The main dish is always a problem. I could have hot dogs and hamburgers, but the problem is finding someone to grill them. Unless there is a volunteer, maybe the best thing is to just take our chances in the spirit of “Pot Luck.” Alternatively, I could try and coordinate what those attending will bring. I am open to the meeting-star party starting earlier than 3:00 to include show and tells, such as astro images, or anything else anyone wants to talk about. Let me know if you would like to do this. If there is enough demand I can try and set it up inside my house, if I can get some help like I had at the 2008 meeting. -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list.