2022 Northern Prairie Star Party
The 17th annual Northern Prairie Star Party (NPSP) was held at the Black Nugget Lake campground southeast of Tofield, Alberta, from September 20 to 25, 2022. We enjoyed four nights of dark sky viewing and a busy Saturday with Black Nugget Lake Observatory building tours, solar observing, three excellent speakers, a variety of door prizes, and a BBQ followed by a great evening of sky viewing.
Please see the October issue of Stardust for a report on this event.
The 2022 NPSP was open to the public – registration fees applied: $30 per person and $60 for a family. Camping fees appled if staying overnight – the northern portion of the campground had been reserved by RASC-Edmonton Centre. The process for reserving a site in that area is described below.
For more information, please review the schedule and rules & regulations (PDF).
If you need more information or have questions, please email Rick and Susan Bramm.
PROGRAM
Saturday, September 24
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM: Tours of the Black Nugget Lake Observatory.
12 noon – 1:45 PM: Solar observing and telescope set up and use demonstrations (in and around the north shelter area)
1:45 PM: “Opening a New Window on the Universe: Black Nugget Lake Observatory” short documentary presented by members of the Black Nugget Lake Observatory Committee, RASC – Edmonton Centre. They are Warren Finlay, Luca Vanzella, Roman Unyk, Kent Martens, Alan Hobbs, Susan Bramm and Rick Bramm.
2:45 PM: Neutrinos in the Pacific Ocean – the P-ONE project
Carsten Krauss, Associate Professor and Director, Centre for Particle Physics, Department of Physics, University of Alberta
An experimental physicist, Carsten Krauss’s areas of research include detection of dark matter and neutrino physics; the latter a vital area of study in the emerging science of multi-messenger astronomy. From 2015-16 he was visiting scientist at SNOLAB in Sudbury, Ontario and was one of the recipients of the Breakthrough Prize of Fundamental Physics in 2015 for the discovery of neutrino oscillations as part of the SNO experiment. More recently his research group has started to develop a new neutrino experiment called P-ONE that is targeted to be deployed in the Pacific Ocean.
Neutrinos have been shown to be ideal messengers from distant galaxies. They do not get deflected in intergalactic magnetic fields, do not decay and travel close to the speed of light. The very highest energy neutrinos ever observed were detected in the IceCube observatory embedded in the glacial ice of the South Pole. The amazing fact that these neutrinos have been observed and the emergence of high energy neutrino astronomy prompts researchers to look for new opportunities to get better measurements and to catch more neutrinos. The northeast Pacific Ocean is an ideal site for observing neutrinos – it is very deep, the water is clean and Canada already has in place an oceanic observation network west of Vancouver Island. There are plans to install a new neutrino observatory, the Pacific Ocean Neutrino Explorer, P-ONE, within the Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) infrastructure. Carsten will report on the status of the field and give an outlook on what we will be able to do with P-ONE.
3:45 PM: Using the Aurora to Study Earth’s Magnetosphere
Eric Donovan, Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary
Eric Donovan and his colleagues have developed the world’s foremost system for ground-based imaging of the aurora for scientific purposes. This includes the continent-wide network of All-Sky Imagers (ASIs) that are part of NASA’s five-satellite THEMIS mission, and that have operated for 15 years in support of that mission. Eric’s research focus is on the magnetosphere, the region of space around the Earth that shields us from the solar wind and other dangerous space radiation. He uses the aurora to remote sense the magnetosphere, so in a very real sense the aurora is his scientific instrument, and his camera networks are how he reads data from it.
In this talk, Eric will discuss causes of the aurora, and how it reflects physical processes in the magnetosphere. Presently, the University of Calgary Auroral Imaging group is prototyping candidate replacements for the THEMIS ASIs, one of which Eric will be bringing to the event and operating. This will be a hands-on demonstration of a cutting-edge space physics observational tool.
5:30 ~ 7 PM: BBQ, door prizes and group photo of NPSP participants
Sunday, September 25
10 AM – 12 NOON: Time to meet for coffee and breakfast (informally), hand in your Observing Lists, pack up and leave your campsite.
OBSERVING LISTS
Attendees are welcome to complete one or more Observing Certificate (three levels, from observing “with keen eyes and no optical aid” to “uncommonly observed objects for advanced observers”). We will also run a mini-bimarathon interweaving five laps around a short cross-country course (each lap is 700 meters in length) with observing 10 specified Messier objects. Lists will be available at the event.
CAMPING ARRANGEMENTS
If you are planning to stay out overnight, you are responsible for reserving your campsite. To do this, contact the 2022 event coordinators Rick and Susan Bramm via email at Rick and Susan Bramm. Sites 88 to 112 and the Group Site 8 have been set aside for booking by the NPSP attendees for Tuesday, September 20 through Saturday, September 25. Here is the link to the campground map, showing the sites: https://www.beaver.ab.ca/public/download/files/206106. The minimum booking period is for two (2) nights. It is highly recommended that star party attendees who are planning to camp overnight reserve a site in the northern portion of the campground as soon as possible.
To ensure you get your preferred site, please book soon, following these steps:
• Identify a first and second choice for campsite. Send email to Rick and Susan Bramm with your request – give site numbers, which nights you will be there and any special circumstances to be considered (arriving late, small tent, large RV etc.).
• We will confirm which site has been set aside for you and reservation fees required. In some cases, we may need to assign you to a site that already has another party on it (if there is adequate room for more than one party). Each of the six powered sites can accommodate at least two parties. The power pedestal has two 115V sockets and one 30A 124 V socket for Recreational Vehicle Use only.
T-SHIRTS
The 2022 NPSP t-shirt designed by Rick Bramm, “New Windows onto the Universe”, features a backdrop image of the first deep field photo by the James Webb Space Telescope as well as an illustration of the telescope itself and a photo the Black Nugget Lake Observatory dome.
We’ll preorder the t-shirts like we have done in the past. To place an order, email Rick and Susan Bramm, indicating if you would like (1) a long or short-sleeved t-shirt and (2) size extra-small, small, medium, large, extra-large, double extra-large or triple extra-large. The cost is $25 for short-sleeved shirts and $30 for long-sleeved shirts. The deadline for ordering a shirt is Monday, September 12 (the night of our next RASC Edmonton Centre meeting).
DOOR PRIZES
When you attend the 2022 Northern Prairie Star Party, you will receive two tickets, one for prizes given out at the end of each presentation and the other for prizes awarded at the BBQ. We are assembling an array of door prizes donated by All-Star Telescope, Fervent Astronomy, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada – Edmonton Centre, and several of our own members. It’s not too late for you to consider donating a gently used or new item.
This year we are delighted to announce that a special 2022 NPSP Grand Prize has been donated by Bob Drew in celebration of the resumption of NPSP: a $500 All-Star Telescope gift card. This and other major prizes will be awarded at the BBQ following the Saturday afternoon talks. Our thanks to Bob for his generous support – and to all the other donors.
It’s not too early to consider donating a gently used or new item for the 2023 NPSP. If you would like to donate a prize, please email Rick and Susan Bramm.
If you need more information or have questions, please email Rick and Susan Bramm.