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PRINEVILLE RESERVOIR STAR PARTY

May 15, 2010

The Prineville Reservoir Star Party is held annually at the MAGNIFICENT and DARK Prineville Reservoir State Park in Prineville, OR

The Prineville Reservoir State Park is located about 17 miles out of Prineville, OR on the banks of the Prineville Reservoir at an elevation of about 3450 feet. The park has multiple developed campsites available as well as rustic and deluxe cabins. The developed camping and cabins can be reserved through RESERVATIONS NORTHWEST at 1-800-452-5687 or at http://www.oregonstateparks.org. These sites fill quickly. The "B" camping area is particularly well-suited for night sky star gazing. There are a total of nearly 100 campsites available at the park's main campground--both tent and RV sites. There are an 30 electrical hook-up sites available at the Jasper Point campground on a first come/first served basis.

FOR THE PRINEVILLE STAR PARTY HOWEVER, camping is available practically right next to your telescope if you want to be a part of the star party proper for observing. If you'd like to share your scope with other attendees, contact the park manager for special consideration.

The Reservoir is a fishing destination for many and the reservoir supports rainbow and cutthroat trout, small and largemouth bass, catfish, crappie and crayfish.

Information about the park can be found at the State of Oregon's Prineville Reservoir State Park site.

The Star Party

The Prineville Reservoir Star Party is FREE for all attendees. This is the 11th annual star party hosted by The Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation. The focus day for the star party is on the 15th of May, 2010 but early arrivers can set up starting May 13th and stay over longer if they wish.

For the eleventh consecutive year, professionsal and beginners alike will aim telescopes skyward at the Prineville Reservoir State Park. "Experts have come here every year to share their knowledge of the heavens," said Paul Patton, the Oregon Parkes and Recreation Department's interpretive coordinator for eastern Oregon. "It has been a great setting for discoveries as well as well as a family day of fun."

The Saturday of the star party will have many organized activities beginning at 10:00 AM as well as speakers both local and regional. The keynote speaker will be NASA's Tony Leavitt who will be speaking about "The Solar System and Human Space Flight". Tony is an aerospace education specialist from NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffitt, CA. He will do a repeat of his wonderful "design, build, and launch your own air rocket" program beginning at 6:p.m.

There are all day activities scheduled for the children and an array of other activities will precede the day's main event which start around 9:30 PM. There will be door prize drawings all day with at least one telescope awarded as a grand prize. When the skies are clear over the Prineville Reservoir, they are remarkable! The Milky Way on some nights casts a shadow!

There will be a variety of exhibits including an "Earth-Time/Space-Time" display from the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. The ever popular kayak tours begin at 9 a.m. and there is a High Desert Discovery Hike beginning at 11:00 a.m. led by the OPRD staff.

The Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory (SNCO) will have all day solar viewing available through "SAFE" telescopes with filters designed to look at the sun.

SNCO and ORPD are co-organizers of this event. The Volunteer Fire and REscue Team of Culver, OR will operate a food/refreshment concession all day Saturday with many appeling menu items available.