Dear Winter Star Party attendees, vendors, friends, and family, 

 

Due to the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases, it is with great sorrow and a tremendous sense of loss that we must announce the cancellation of the 2022 Winter Star Party. While we planned to operate the Star Party with every safety precaution, the risk of infection with the Omicron variant, whether vaccinated or not, is just too great.

  
 

Everyone will be refunded 100% of all fees, and we will begin to process those refunds shortly.  All PayPal payments will be refunded through the PayPal system, and checks will be sent to those attendees who paid by check. We can also refund check payments through PayPal “friends and family” where we will absorb any associated fees.

 

We apologize for any inconvenience as a result of this decision. First and foremost, the health and safety of our guests is of paramount importance, especially now during these troubling times.

 

We look forward to seeing you all in 2023.  Again, thank you for your understanding and patience.

 

Sincerely,

 

Tim Khan, Director

Winter Star Party

 

Russ Brick, President Southern Cross Astronomical Society

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

2022 Winter Star Party: January 31st - February 6th.

Registration is closed. 

 

Covid Announcement
 

Dear WSP Attendee,

Due to the recent uptick in covid cases, we are still planning to have the WSP! Some of you may be concerned about covid and whether we will enforce masks and ask for proof of vaccination. We are neither in the position to enforce either masks or vaccinations. We ask that you observe all state and federal protocols with regards to Covid-19 and its variants. We do expect our attendees to be mindful of each other and respect their decision about whether they are vaccinated and/or decide on wearing a mask. We are here to enjoy looking at our favorite southern celestial objects like we have been doing for the past 38 years!

Stay Safe and Be Well,
 

Tim Khan,

Winter Star Party Director

 

The Winter Star Party is famous for the "steady air" over that portion of the keys.
Borrtle 3 skies with an average SQM of 21.76 are a treat for astrophotographers and observers alike.
Click anywhere in the map to see the sky conditions. Light Pollution Map


Sunny days in the 70's and cool, calm nights in the 60's makes for a wonderful experience under the stars.

You will receive the details of your arrival time along with your tickets. We have reached our to the church in Big Pine to see if you can use their parking lot for your RV's on Sunday night.
Your parking arragement will be with the church staff. When we have confirmed, we will post the contact information.

 

Now for a little about the 2 camps.........

Camp Wesumpkee

Since 2017, when Hurricane Irma struck and destroyed Camp Wesumpkee, the Girl Scouts have made no attempts at restoring the facility.
It is rustic camping, with only Port-o-Lets. There is no power on the girl scout camp except for the vendor area and only for the vendors and Mickies Kitchen..
We have changed our procedures to now allow small, quiet (below65 decibels) generators to run 24 hrs. a day for electricity.

Parking is the same as always, you may park in proximity to your campsite as long as you are not setting your equipment up on the berm. For all you first-timers, the "berm" is an area adjacent to the shoreline where we only allow telescopes to be set up so everyone behind the berm can enjoy the southeastern horizon. There is no vehicle traffic allowed after 7 pm and all vehicles parked near the berm must be removed by the same time.
Our Vendor area will be here as well, straight accross from Mickie's Kitchen as always. We are expecting reps from Celestron, Tele Vue, Disc Mounts, and Starlight Instruments, just to name a few.
Mickie's Kithcen is our food vendor. No trip to the Winter Star Party can be complete without a 3 am brownie and hot chocolate from Mickie's kitchen............... I can taste it already!

Camp Sawyer

Camp Sawyer belongs to the Boy Scouts and fared much better in the storm. All bathroom and shower facilities are on Sawyer. 10 private showers and 10 private stalls.
Access from one camp to the other is thru a pass on the west end of Wesumpkee. There is no vehicle traffic permitted on the pass or Camp Sawyer, so you must walk to the showers.

PLEASE be aware that as of this writing, the boy scouts DO NOT allow vehicle traffic on the tenting grounds. What this means is that, you must unload your gear in a staging area, remove your vehicle to the parking lot and cart it out to where you want to set up. The boy scouts will provide the carts.

We have asked for you to be allowed to drive up and drop your gear and remove your vehicle to the parking lot. We will see what happens on opening day..........

As advetised, the Glam Tents are on Sawyer. Tent camping is available on Camp Sawyer in limited numbers but we only have enough parking spaces to accommodate 75 cars, Gamping or tenting. Once that number is reached Camp Sawyer will be turned of from the registration system and we will accept no more requests there. To accommodate that many cars, no trailers or RV's are allowed on Sawyer. Sawyer will also have electricity thru out the camp thru extension cords and plug stations. Be aware that you should have a 100 foot extension cord with you to be sure you are within reach of a plug.

The Speaker presentations will be on Sawyer in an open-air venue. We are planning to have 9 speakers this year. The finalized list will be available soon.

As always, we will have some fantastic door prizes to give away on Friday.

Have a look at our last star party here.....................
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV4N7N5c78o


Stay tuned for further information.

If there is anything you need to discuss with us or issues with your registration please send an email to wsp@scas.org
Thank you again for your patronage and please stay safe and healthy.


Sincerely,

Tim Khan, Director
Winter Star Party

Russ Brick, President
Southern Cross Astronomical Society