Guide Lines for Public Star Parties to be Supported by LAS

Our members provide equipment and support for about  a dozen or so star parties for local schools, Boy Scouts, and the U.S. Forest Service each year.  If you are school or group is interested in having LAS members provide equipment and support for your event please contact the LAS President or Vice President.

The best times for school and other public star parties are near the first quarter moon.  Check the LAS Star Parties page for possible dates and conflicts.  Friday night works for well for school events.

Your event should begin about 45 minutes to an hour after sunset and end a couple hours later. (Sunset times and open dates are shown on the Area Star Parties page.

You should chose a location that has reasonably clear views to the southeast, south, and southwest. There should be no street lights that are less than a block away. The glare from street lights is annoying and makes it very difficult for us to locate objects.  If lighting at your location is excessive try contacting your city or county parks department for suggestions.

Keep in mind that some of our telescopes are large and quite heavy; some weigh a couple hundred pounds or more.  It is important that we have nearby access to our vehicles for loading and unloading.

Please provide us with a rough estimate of the number of people attending so we can plan accordingly.  We can handle a maximum of about 150 people per evening.

In general we only support events that are less than 30 miles from Longmont. Otherwise the travel time and expense is excessive for our members.

We can provide information about the various objects we'll be showing to the students prior to the event for classroom discussion prior to the event.