by David Letcher, Outreach Chair

We at AAAP are becoming quite popular in the world of star parties. Our first star party was held on Saturday evening, September 20th. Volunteers Gaspar Bakos and Habib Ahson led the show. According to Gaspar the star party at Plainsboro Preserve went very well. There were about 20-25 people, half of them kids. They observed the constellations, Saturn, Alcor & Mizar, Albireo, M13, M11, M57, M27, and Andromeda with M32. All-in-all the evening was enjoyed by all. Thanks Habib and Gaspar!

Two more star parties are on the schedule for October.

• Tuesday evening, 10/21 will see us at the Linwood Middle School in North Brunswick, NJ. This school has become one of our regular sites. We have one volunteer so far. More would be better.
• Thursday evening, 10/30 will see us at the Unionville Winery in Ringoes, NJ. The winery staff claims they have dark skies and an interesting mulled wine. So far, two volunteers that have signed up.

Another opportunity just came up: a star party at Rider College in Lawrence, NJ on the evening of Friday, November 7th. A newly hired assistant professor of astronomy and physics will entertain students and parents with an early evening lecture and an observing session starting around 8 p.m. AAAP is cordially invited to bring our scopes and help out. It is their parents’ weekend.

Finally, yours truly will offer four lectures on backyard astronomy at the Nature Center in Washington crossing Park on the first four Friday evenings in October. The lectures begin at 7:30 p.m. and end at 8:30 p.m. Afterwards, participants will be encouraged to go to our observatory for viewing the things I talked about. This is the third year I have done these classes.
Respectfully submitted,