Request an Event

The best (and easiest) way to get a star party for your business or school is to invite your group to attend our monthly star-gazing event. This is the best opportunity in getting your group involved with stargazing by having nice telescopes to look through and knowledgeable astronomers in attendance. Click here for a calendar.

If you are interested in having astronomy at your place, please send an email to start the ball rolling. If you’re looking for a star party where we bring our telescopes to your site, please read the guidelines below, and note that we will need direct vehicle access to the viewing site for equipment setup and operation.

Astronomy at Your Place

If you wish to have the CCAS conduct an astronomy or space exploration program, here are important items to think about and be prepared to answer when contacting the CCAS. Programs can be very simple or more in-depth depending on the audience and availability of knowledgeable volunteer CCAS astronomers.

Regarding Children

The CCAS highly encourages the involvement of children at presentations and star parties. We gladly support schools when possible. But, please understand the following note of concern. If a program involves children, please bear in mind that astronomy is only appropriate for children that can pay attention and concentrate on the presentation. Star parties are very, very dark, so children must also be able to take direction well and be very careful working outside in total darkness. A star party viewing area is not a play area. Very young children are generally not encouraged to attend a program so that the audience can concentrate on what is being presented. Children must be fully supervised by adults as CCAS members are not prepared to handle such matters and will not bear such responsibility. Plus, there may be very expensive and delicate telescopic equipment involved (some having electrical wiring running on the ground, etc.) that needs to be treated carefully. Please consider the following ….

General Considerations

Do you wish to have a slide presentation or a star party or both? As stated above, if you are interested in a star party, an excellent first option is to attend one of the CCAS’ monthly star parties. Here are some important items to consider:

» What are the possible dates for your program?
» Where will the program be held? What address?
» What facilities will be used? A large room and chairs for a slide show? Covered windows?
» Will restroom facilities be available? A must for events.
» Will adequate parking be available?
» Do you have appropriate liability and facility insurance coverage?
» How many people will be in the audience? Adults, children or both?
» If children are involved, what is the age range? Will their parents be present?
» If children are involved without their parents, who is responsible for the children?
» Will special accommodations be needed for disadvantaged audience members?
» What is your desired goal for the program?
» What is your desired time length of the program?

Presentations

» Do you have an indoor facility having sufficient seating for the audience?
» Do you have several 5-ft or 6-ft tables for astronomy table displays?
» Is there a place to set-up a slide projector and a portable screen?
» Does the facility have a large, pull-down projection screen?
» Is a white-board and color markers available? A chalk board?
» Will someone be available “early” to open gates & facilities, to coordinate and set up seating, etc.?

Star Parties

» Please see Star Parties for info on monthly CCAS star parties and pointers.
» Do you have a dark viewing location? Building lights and street lights are BAD.
» If using a lawn area, be sure that automatic lawn sprinklers do not operate that night and have not run the past day to insure dry ground conditions.
» Safety is an important issue as it is extremely dark during stargazing.
» Children must be supervised at all times due to safety and expensive equipment.
» Are you interested in viewing the Moon, the cosmos or both?
» How late can attendees stay? Sometimes good viewing is late in the evening.
» Astrophotography is very specialized, so this is not part of CCAS star parties.
» There must be vehicle access to the telescope viewing area for set-up.
» Will there be locked gates that must be unlocked for the event?
» CCAS members may want to arrive early for equipment set-up.
» White-light flashlights are not to be used in the viewing area.
» Please notify the police of the late-night event.
» Cloudy weather will cancel a star party.