Ransom Canyon Solar and Star Party Saturday

Saturday, August 19, 2023
Solar Observing 6:00pm-8:00pm – RC Fire Station
Star Party 9:00pm-11:00pm – The Meadow

This month, we’re spicing things up a bit and offering you views of both the Sun and the stars!  We hope that you will join us for both parties!

SOLAR:

From 6pm-8pm, join us at the Ransom Canyon Fire Station at the top of the canyon, at 1 Ridge Road, Ransom Canyon.  Our telescopes have filters that block all of the harmful rays of the sun, so it’s perfectly safe to look.  We’ll also have a video system that will allow everyone to look at my monitor and view the Sun indirectly.  (It produced the image at top.)  We’ll show you the Sun’s surface and gladly answer your questions about the Sun and the upcoming eclipses.

SOLAR ECLIPSES:

We will also have eclipse glasses available for sale at $2 each so you can safely see the October 14, 2023 annular eclipse and April 8, 2024 total eclipse.  The October eclipse passes just south of Lubbock, so you can see a nearly complete eclipse from your home or travel an hour or two to see the complete eclipse.  In April, the eclipse runs from the Mexican border roughly up I35 to New England, but you can still see the partial eclipse in Lubbock with our glasses.

STAR PARTY:

At 9pm, we’ll hold our usual star party at the Meadow, near Cardinal and W. Lakeshore Drives.  We’ll have a variety of telescopes looking at various objects in the sky or you can join us with a pair of binoculars and comfortable chair to tour the Milky Way.

We are family and pet friendly, but please remember that the equipment is owned by our members and can be very fragile.  Please see our Star Party Etiquette page for what to bring and expect under the stars. Please note that observing is very weather-dependent.  The forecast looks good, but if it’s cloudy, windy, or raining, please see our Facebook page or website for cancellation notices before heading out to the star party.