Star Gaze 2, Announcement of Winning Name from Name the New Telescope Contest, Donation of New Telescope to Kenton County Parks, and First Light for Kenton County Lincoln Ridge Park's New Telescope

September 26

Join KCP&R, Cincinnati Observatory Center, and the Midwestern Astronomers for Star Gaze 2 and an "out of this world" program for amateur and professional astronomers and all other interested participants at Lincoln Ridge Park (formerly Banklick Woods). Our Star Gazes are free to attend and enjoy and open to the public. We welcome you to come out and see the stars!

It's our second Star Gaze of 2009 but there's way more starry stuff this time around! Star Gaze 2 will be held on Saturday, September 26 beginning at 7:00 pm in the Kenton County Public Works Administration building, rain or shine, and will include a one-hour or so indoor presentation, followed by outdoor use of telescopes (weather-permitting). Come on out to Lincoln Ridge Park and discover another world of wonder!

Mark Stephenson, of the Midwest Astronomers, will be making a presentation on how to choose a telescope. One that he highly recommends will be there to look at, hear about, and examine. In fact, this is THE telescope that Tom East won in the 40 Galileos Contest that C.O.C. ran this past spring! And, following Mark's presentation, we will announce the winning name from the Name the New Telescope Contest, and Tom will make a formal presentation in donating the telescope to Kenton County Parks & Recreation! Following Tom's presentation, and assuming clear skies, we'll move outdoors.

Be one of the first to use our new telescope in what we're calling "First Light for Kenton County Lincoln Ridge Park's New Telescope!" No matter the principal targets, we will also be viewing constellations, stars, double stars, star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. Volunteers from Friends of the Observatory Center and the Midwestern Astronomers will provide telescopes and expertise in the field, describe observations, answer questions, and help open our eyes to the wonder of the universe. Who knows what the night sky will reveal? We welcome you to bring your telescope and binoculars.

Lincoln Ridge Park is easy to find. The address is 420 Independence Station Rd., Independence. From I-75, take the Florence/Union exit. Go east to the 2nd stop light at Industrial Road. Turn right and go to 1303/Turkeyfoot Road. Turn right and go one-half mile to Independence Station Road (just past the Marathon Mart). Turn left and go two miles to the park. The park will be on your left. Turn left again as you enter the park and go to the first building. Or, from I-275, take the Turkeyfoot Road exit and go south about six miles to Independence Station Road. Turn left and go two miles to the park. Turn left again as you enter the park and go to the first building. For more information about KCP&R Star Gazes, call (859) 525-PLAY (7529).

Here are details for the Name the New Telescope Contest:

KCP&R is sponsoring a contest to Name the New Telescope that will be donated to Kenton County Parks & Recreation during Star Gaze 2 on Saturday, September 26 by Tom East, who won it in the Cincinnati Observatory Center's 40 Galileos Contest.

What are we looking for in contest entries? Well, think how racehorses are named ~ powerful, quirky, funny, serious, whimsical, ethereal, etc. Get starry and use your imagination!

There are a few simple contest rules. First, your entry must evoke a sense of wonder or exploration. Second, you may not include the name of a real person, either alive or dead, or the name of a fictional character. And third, in case of duplicate entries, the first received will be the winner. First, second, and third place entries will each win a prize! A good one, too!

The deadline to submit your contest entry is Friday, September 18, 2009 at 5:00 pm. You may e-mail your entry to steve.trauger@kentoncounty.org, or by mail to Kenton County Parks & Recreation, 3902 Richardson Rd., Independence, KY 41051.

For more information about KCP&R Star Gaze 1 and 2, call (859) 525-PLAY (7529).

More starry stuff! Check out the new Clear Skies Chart for Lincoln Ridge Park at http://cleardarksky.com/c/LncnRgPkKYkey.html?1. What is a Clear Skies Chart? It's the astronomer's forecast. At a glance, it shows when it will be cloudy or clear for up to the next two days. For us, it's a prediction of when Lincoln Ridge Park will have good weather for astronomical observing. The forecast data comes from those very cool guys at the Canadian Meteorological Center. CMC's numerical weather forecasts are unique because they are specifically designed for astronomers. Visit http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/astro/index_e.html for more about CMC. At the request of Tom East, Attilla Danko wrote a script to generate the images which summarize CMC's forecast just for Lincoln Ridge Park and the surrounding area out to about 10 miles. See http://cleardarksky.com/csk/index.html#chart_list for of the charts for 3748 locations!

The Cincinnati Observatory Center is the birthplace of American Astronomy and has the honor of being the nation's first professional observatory. In 1843, President John Quincy Adams laid the Observatory's foundation stone. A national historic landmark, the Observatory Center is located at 3489 Observatory Place and houses a collection of artifacts illustrating the history of the science and applications of astronomy. There is always something "out of this world" going on there! For the Observatory program schedule, including Community Outreach, call (513) 321-5186 or visit their website at http://www.cincinnatiobservatory.org.

Hey, here's another cool star party you might want to check out! It's called the Great World Wide Star Count and intended to help educate people about light pollution. This year, the GWWSC is scheduled from October 9-23. For more, visit http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/starcount/.

Call Kenton County Recreation at (859) 525-PLAY (7529) to ask how you can help ~ we are always in need of volunteers and funding sponsors for our programs!

For news of upcoming programs, activities, and events to be held in Kenton County's parks, call the Parks & Recreation office at (859) 525-PLAY (7529).