Fall’N’Stars in Review
FallNStars is a star party held annually and jointly with the RASC
Belleville Centre and Kingston Centre.
We switch leads each year to share the work and responsibility. 2012 was
our 13th annual, counting the inaugural DSNOS (Dark Sky Night Observing
Session) at Presquile Park in 2000.
The event is basically the rental of an area (the Camp Sagonaska Boy
Scout Camp in the Vandewater Conservation Area near Thomasburg Ontario)
each year in September, generally around a new moon weekend.
Attendees can choose from weekend registration or a Saturday day pass.
Typical events include a opening rocket launch on Friday, swap meet on
Saturday along with a series of presentations in the afternoon, a group
photo and a catered dinner.
Observing opportunities are daytime Friday from noon on, Saturday all
day and Sunday morning; stellar observing Friday and Saturday nights.
A main feature is the low cost of the event with low camp rental rates
and low dinner rates. The financial goal of the event is to not lose
money, as we are not out to make a lot of money. Profits or losses are
shared equally between Kingston and Belleville.
Most people camp in tents or small trailers in the field with their
equipment, but there are also a limited number of bunks in the longhouse.
The washroom facilities are primitive but we do our best to make your
time spent there as inoffensive as possible
Typical attendance is between 20 and 30 people. The longhouse capacity
for dinner is approximately 36 comfortably with maybe 50 as a hard upper
limit. The field can easily accommodate 75-100 campers if not more.
Tree growth and increasing levels of light pollution is turning the
event more and more into a social gathering moreso than a darksky
observing session. The opportunity to see and share with others, their
equipment, techniques and knowledge are the big draw for many.
A few years back Kingston did not have the volunteers needed to lead
during our rotation, and Belleville stepped up to cover the gap. Thanks!
We are proud that the event has continued for this long and hope that it
continues on into the future.
Thanks to all of the volunteers over the years!