Our Star Parties are open to anyone interested in the night sky. You do not need to be a WVAC member or have a telescope to attend star parties. There is no charge to attend. We ask that you read the Disclaimer below. We also have a set of etiquette that we ask participants to understand and follow at the star parties.
Please join us with or without a telescope for a few hours under a dark sky. Please before sunset to avoid disturbing others and to see where to park. We have also made a list of things you consider bringing to make the star party an enjoyable experience.
Information about a star party is sent out by email on the Wednesday before the party. On the day of the event a Go/No-Go decision is made, and an email notification is sent out (normally by 4:00 PM) based on the weather conditions. The status is also be updated on our website. Here is the Contact Form if you want to be added to this Star Party Notification List.
Remaining Star Party dates (subject to change), New Moon dates, and information on the Star Party location are below:
Our viewing location is close to the Northwest Valley and easy to get to on paved roads. It provides a fairly dark sky for astronomical viewing and has proved to be an excellent site for our purposes. The star party site is on Arizona State Trust Land and the state requires everyone to have a State Land Use Permit.
Our Star Parties are open to anyone interested in the night sky. You do not need to be a WVAC member or have a telescope to attend star parties. There is no charge to attend. We ask that you read the Disclaimer below. We also have a set of etiquette that we ask participants to understand and follow at the star parties.
Please join us with or without a telescope for a few hours under a dark sky. Please arrive before sunset to avoid disturbing others and to see where to park. We have made a list of things you should consider bringing to make the star party an enjoyable experience.
Information about a star party is sent out by email on the Wednesday before the party. On the day of the event a Go/No-Go decision is made, and an email notification is sent out (normally by 4:00 PM) based on the weather conditions. The status is generally updated on our website. Here is the Contact Form if you want to be added to this Star Party Notification List.
Our viewing location is close to the Northwest Valley and easy to get to on paved roads. It provides a fairly dark sky for astronomical viewing and has proved to be an excellent site for our purposes. The star party site is on Arizona State Trust Land and the state requires everyone to have a State Land Use Permit.
You do not need to be a member or have a telescope to attend the West Valley Astronomy Club star parties. We recommend you obtain a Land Use Permit because our dark sky site is located on Arizona State Trust Land and have it with you. Depending on the weather and the time of year it may be advisable to bring some warm clothing and something hot to drink. Try to arrive before sunset.
Consider bringing the following items:
Astronomy or Planetarium applications are available for iPhones, iPads, Androids, and other handheld devices. Many of these ‘apps’ are free or inexpensive. Most use the GPS and motion sensor built into these devices. Once you have the planetarium application installed you can just point the device at a region of the sky and it shows you what you are looking at. It couldn’t be easier.
Only one word of caution: the brightness of the screen of some of these devices may be a concern when using them at a star party. See the Star Party Etiquette by clicking link. Here is a link to one of many products just as an example: GoSkyWatch Planetarium
One of the useful things you can learn is how to recognize the constellations in the night sky. A handy aid for this is a “Planisphere” which shows the sky (north and south views) and constellations for a given latitude at any hour or date. Planispheres vary in price from $7.50 to $40. Sizes available vary from 5 to 16 inches. Planispheres are optimized for use at a particular latitude. Some products specify the latitude their product is optimized for but others only specify a range of latitudes. If the specifications only give you a range of latitudes, you can estimate the optimal latitude by adding the lower and higher ends of the range and dividing the result by 2. You will be very lucky if you can get a good planisphere for your particular latitude but a planisphere is still useful for several degrees higher or lower than the optimal latitude. Since the latitude in the Phoenix area is approximately 34 degrees N. latitude, a planisphere designed for 30 to 40 degrees N. latitude would be fine.
An often recommended attribute for a planisphere is that it should be resistant to moisture. Plastic is a good material for this purpose. Laminated or coated cardboard is not so good because when the cardboard is accidentally creased, the disc becomes difficult or impossible to rotate. The moisture and dew problem may not be so important in the very dry Phoenix climate.
When you buy a planisphere, bigger is better! For use at a star party where your eyes have become adjusted to the darkness without losing your night vision, a small planisphere (less than 10 inches) is usually unsatisfactory. You will need a fairly bright light to read a small one but if you do this then you will temporarily lose your night vision. A large planisphere will be readable with a dim red flashlight so you will not lose your night vision or annoy other star party viewers. In other situations, the small planispheres can be useful.
Bring it to the star parties and use it at home inside or outside under a dark sky. There are a number of different ones available. Descriptions and photos of 4 representative and popular ones can be seen at the following site: Skymaps.com. Search the internet for “planisphere” and you will get a lot of useful hits and links.
The dark sky site where we hold our star parties is located on Arizona State Trust Land designated for recreation. This means that individuals need a valid “recreation permit” to go onto this land. These permits are sold by the Arizona State Land Department. They sell an “Individual Permit” $15.00 or a “Family Permit” $20.00 which are valid for a term of one year. They are good for all State Trust Land that is open for recreation throughout Arizona.
Besides star-parties, the permit allows camping, hiking, horseback riding, picnics, bicycling, photography, sightseeing and bird watching. Information about the permits and the form for the permits may be found at: Arizona State Land Department.
We know that the permit may be an inconvenience, but it is very difficult to get such a good dark sky site so close by and on good roads.
