(This article originally appeared in the Q4 2002 STAR newsletter. -Ian)

MASP 2002

by Bill Webster

The Mid Atlantic Star Party was held at Camp Reeves Oct. 29^th through Nov. 2^nd. I have been to several Mid-Atlantic Star Parties, four to be exact. The biggest difference in this one was that it was cold. In past years I remember bringing sun screen and putting up a tarp to create some shade during to get through the day. Well, that wasn't a problem this year! The days were cool and the nights were colder. After one night spent shivering in a sleeping bag, I mentioned to Jim Anderson how cold I was. He agreed and said that he even had to turn on the heater inside his camper. Some guys really know how to rough it. But he showed pity by giving me a heating pad. I spent the next night trying to make a 12" X 12" pad heat my whole body. I did sleep better after that.

Another difference this year with MASP 2002 was the vendors. The over all attendance was up this year, but there weren't as many vendors. Even SkyTent, owned by our very own Mike Brooks, was a no show. Some of the vendors that did come were Camera Corner of Burlington, NC, RXDesign of Charlotte NC, B. Christ Minatures, High Point Scientifc (formally Pocono Mountain Optics) from Montague NJ, Camera Concepts from New York, Burgess Optical from Knoxville Tennessee, and local boy Seibert Optics from Clayton. I liked the miniature telescopes by B. Christ. The craftsmanship was very good. Also, Burgess Optics drew a lot of attention with their very low priced binoculars.

For some reason, I never attended the different presentations at past MASPs. Well that changed this year. The Deep Impact talk by Elizabeth Warner was very good. I missed the Gamma Ray Burster discussion by Steve Robinson, a member of the American Association of Variable Star Observers. I did attend RAC member Joe Mack's talk on how to use the astrolabe for observational astronomy. I now know more about an astrolabe then I could ever need to know. RAC's Eric Honeycutt also gave a great talk and slide show on - what else -but observing planetary nebulae. And I'm sorry I missed Dr. Lee Shapiro's talk on where and what is the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. I understand it was outstanding. Gale Riggsbee of the Charlotte Club also gave a talk on “A Brief Observing History of the Sun”.

I always run in to old friends at MASP. About three years ago, I met Jack Kendell from the Charlotte area. Every year we meet at MASP and share observing stories. I also try to invite new ones to MASP. I had been talking via the Internet to a new amateur from Virginia Beach, Va. He just got his first telescope and was looking for a star party to go to. I invited him to MASP but he was a no show. I did meet a guy name Bruno from the Raleigh area. He and some of his observing friends from the Raleigh area travel to Medoc Mountain State Park to observe. Maybe I'll get a chance to observe with them sometime.

As in past MASPs, the weather this year wasn't the best. Besides being cold it was cloudy. Wednesday night was completely cloudy. Thursday night started cloudy then cleared a little. I did get in some viewing but nothing but the brighter Messier objects. Friday night was the best for viewing. And Saturday night was good early but clouds rolled in around 10 pm for the rest of the night. Along with all of the Messier objects, I tracked down the following list: NGC253, NGC288, the Veil Nebula, the Crescent Nebula, the Bubble Nebula, NGC6207, the Blue Flash, the Helix nebula, IC418, NGC7005, NGC6934, the Cats Eye Nebula, NGC891, and NGC404. I also tracked down the planets Neptune and Uranus. The viewing highlight for me was finding M1-64 in Lyra. I was at Pierrie's 24" when I saw this planetary nebula for the first time. I'm always happy to find any Minkowski nebula.

Saturday afternoon, the last day of MASP2002, I met Howard Brewington. I had just read an article about comet Brewington in Sky and Telescope. And sure enough he is the man who discovered it. Actually he discovered 5 comets and this one is making its first return loop. It was in southern Cetus during MASP. I attempted several times to find it but was unsuccessful. Mr. Brewington now lives in South Carolina.

As always I can't wait for MASP to start and am happy to get back to my own bed when it's over. I'm already looking forward to MASP2003. Mark your calendars - it's Oct. 21st through 27^th 2003. Pictures from MASP 2002 can be viewed on their official web site: http://www.masp.org/home.htm (Please note, the address has changed to http://masp.us -Ian)