2024 Winter Star Party

February 5th - February 11th

Well my friends, the the 2024 Winter Star Party is over and everyone is back home safe and sound. WSP 2025 dates are set, January 27th to February 1st.
We had some weather issues with the rain early on and of course, the wind made it's presence known on a regular basis. To the good, we had 3 1/2 crystal clear nights under Bortle 3 skies.
It was great to see all of our old friends and just as great to make new ones. For you first timers, we hope that you now feel as we do, the Winter Star Party is a yearly must!
We all have had a lot of great times together over the years and this year was no exception!. We are sad to see Michelle and GC  ride off into the night
but we wish them great happiness and success in the future. It was our pleasure to grant Mickies Kitchen a lifetime membership into Southern Cross. We are beyond gratefull for
all the years of dedicated service to the Star Party and the thousands of brownies too!

We want to thank the WSP committee leaders and their respective staff. Winter Star Party would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of the following people:

Tim Khan, WSP Director
Charlie Perillo, Host Coordinator
Neal Kleinman, Speaker Coordinator
Sergio Fiquero, Video Coordinator
Jose Cordozo, Sales Coordinator
Russ Brick, Vendor Coordinator
David Liles, Registrar

The Winter Star Party and Southern Cross Astronomical Society wish to thank all of our vendors who support the WSP with door Prizes.
Your support makes our amazing door prize drawing posasable!

Agena Astro
APM Telescopes
Astronomy Shoppe
Atlanta Astronomy Club
Atlanta Hobby
Barry Christ
Benro
Bob's Knobs
Camera Concepts and Telescope Solutions
Celestron
Charlie Warren
Daystar Filters
DC-3 Dreams
Disc Mounts
Explore Scientific
Hands on Optics
Infinities
Jen Shivak
Joe Haldeman
Knightware
nPAE Nottingham Precision Astro Engineering
Oberwerk
Oklahoma City Astronomy Club
Peggy Walker
Simulation Curriculum
Starfield Optics
Svbony
Tele Vue Optics
Telescope Engineering Company
Ursa Major Night Sky Stencils
Woodland Hills Camera and Telescopes

 

This Year's PRIZES

Prize	Value	Winner	Ticket#
Celestron Omni 1.25 Barlow Lens	$40.00	Calvin Carter	78
Power Tank Glow	$45.00	Greg Quilling	258
11 x 56 LW Series Binoculares	$110.00	Bill Murray	72
Sun Catcher Variable Large Aperure Solar Filters	$40.00	Gage Hallhuran	144
Celestron Omni 1.25 Barlow Lens	$40.00	Jeff Thomas	36
Individual or Family Entry 2024 Peach Styate Star Gaze	$75.00	Ronie Joe Evans	255
Sky Safari 7 Plus IOS	$13.00	Jay Elliott	156
2.5X Powermate	$230.00	Siripen Bradshaw	76
Sun Catcher Variable Large Aperure Solar Filters	$40.00	Harold Soto	168
Celestron 10 x 25 Solar Binoculars	$45.00	Marge Durham	190
Summer Sky	$57.00	Steve Saworiwsky	132
SV503 80mm ED F-7 Doublet Refractor	$450.00	Doug Corey	62
$50 Gift Certificate	$50.00	Jeff Schoenig	87
Power Tank Lithium	$100.00	Bill Gwynne	179
Sun Catcher Variable Large Aperure Solar Filters	$40.00	Rae Murphy	215
2 Tickets 2025 Winter Star Party	$700.00	Barbara Williamson	101
Starry Night 8 Enthusiast:	$90.00	Gay Haldeman	30
$50 Gift Certficate	$50.00	Emily Tusick	186
Sky Master Pro ED 7 x 50 Binoculars	$200.00	Daniel Doyle	38
Sky Safari 7 Pro IOS	$30.00	Mark Groszko	251
Sun Catcher Variable Large Aperure Solar Filters	$40.00	Jeff Corder	142
Coma Corrected 2.7 X Barlow	$200.00	Chris Westphal	59
2 Tickets 2024 Okie Tex Star Party	$200.00	Sherley Ssample	121
Deep Sky Planner 8	$75.00	Phil Whitebloom	206
Sky Safari 7 Plus Android	$13.00	Eileen Fisher	201
Sun Catcher Variable Large Aperure Solar Filters	$40.00	Neal Kleinman	32
Celestron 20 x 80 Sky Master Binoculars	$200.00	Sally Smith-Raymond	172
Ziess 7 x 50 Binocilars	$300.00	Jessica Hernandez	252
Alvin Clark Refractor	$100.00	Carol Brown	123
$50 Gift Certificate	$50.00	Sara Wallach	265
Multi-Purpose Dovetail Plate (Losmandy D Compatable)	$95.00	Mitch Cox	71
Individual or Family Entry 2024 Peach Styate Star Gaze	$75.00	RICK Walker	207
Sun Catcher Variable Large Aperure Solar Filters	$40.00	Gordon Schafer	131
127 mm F-7 Refractor EMD Coatings	$2,000.00	Tony Cecce	178
Celestro 10 x 25 Solar Binoculars	$45.00	Maria D. Garcia	239
13mm Nagler Type 6	$335.00	Paul May	259
2 Tickets 2025 Winter Star Party	$700.00	Joyce Schoenig	86
Sun Catcher Variable Large Aperure Solar Filters	$40.00	John Stanton	4
StarSense Explorer 130mm Table Top Dob / Tripod	$570.00	Dean Schwartzenbeg	183
Mini Tripod and Binocular Tripod Adapter	$170.00	John Diller	34
3 Red Light Flashlights, 2 CarbonFiber Pens	$80.00	Carolina Albarracin	176
2 Tickets 2024 Okie Tex Star Party	$200.00	Stephen Durham	189
Winter Sky	$57.00	Rodney Rossell	145
$50 Gift Certificate	$50.00	Bob Dorcas	73
Sun Catcher Variable Large Aperure Solar Filters	$40.00	David Liles	69
Pinpoint Astrometric Engine Liscence	$149.00	Jean Patterson	213
5 position 1.25 Eyepeice Turret	$1,200.00	John J. Viescas	110
2 Tickets 2025 Winter Star Party	$700.00	Lou Alfonso	231
$50 Gift Certficate	$50.00	Megan Bethencourt	233
Starry Night 8 Pro:	$160.00	Fred Rains	130
Sun Catcher Variable Large Aperure Solar Filters	$40.00	Russ Brick	33
Multi-Purpose Dovetail Plate (Losmandy D Compatable)	$95.00	Mike Napper	48
StarSense Explorer 150mm Table Top Dob / Tripod	$700.00	Bill Caspe	52
High Speed, 5 position, 1,25 Filter Wheel	$249.00	Sheila Budd	139
$50 Gift Certificate	$50.00	Keith Fisher	200
Sky Safari 7 Pro Android	$30.00	Jim Moscheck	153
Sun Catcher Variable Large Aperure Solar Filters	$40.00	Pamela Shivak	103
2 Tickets 2025 Winter Star Party	$700.00	Bruce Kaczmarek	80
Clothing Package	$120.00	Klaus Hartkorn	61
Cift Certificate for on set of Bob's Knows	$25.00	Lisa Schwartzenberg	184
39 Years or Amature Astronomy Magazine	$159.00	Jim Pickerine	242
Universal Solar Lens Filter ULF50-2	$25.00	Ken Diller	224
Universal Solar Lens Filter ULF50-2	$25.00	Mark Korzen	256
Universal Solar Lens Filter ULF70	$20.00	Ron Poller	165
Universal Solar Lens Filter ULF70	$20.00	Barbara Stanton	136
Universal Solar Lens Filter ULF70	$20.00	Adam Diaz	98
Universal Solar Lens Filter ULF70	$20.00	Darryl Archer	161
Universal Solar Lens Filter ULF90	$30.00	John Panek	124
20 x 50 Binocular Bundle w/ Universa; Lens Filters	$50.00	Karen Carpenter	91
FCD 100 Series ED-80 Triplet Apo Refractor	$1,500.00	Barbra Williamson	101
Handmade WSP Quilt		Denise WoTimody	41
Hand Painted Image		Mitch Cox	71
Hand Painted Image		Tina Cecce	177
The Forever War Signed book		Bill Caspe	52
None So Blind Signed book		Tim Kahn	260
Hemingway Hoax Signed book		Demetryr Papadopous	128
1968 Signed book		Sara Wallach	265
Pentax 16.5 mm Eyepiece		Richard Wright

 

 

Finally, we would like to thank you, our patrons for coming down and spending a week with us at our favorite place on the planet
The Star Party would be nothing without you.

_Sincerely,

_{Tim Khan, Director
Winter Star Party}

_{Russ Brick, President
Southern Cross Astronomical Society}

 

Have a look at this blog post from AstroBackYard.
Astrophotographers and social media inflencers both, Trevor Jones and Ashley Northcotte made the trip to WSP for the first time.
What follows are the details of thier experience with us and we thank them for the kind words.

Winter Star Party

Don't forget next years dates, January 27th to February 1st 2025.
Registration will open on or about October 1st, 2024.

See you next year!

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED FOR THIS YEAR  

Registration
Scroll down near the bottom of the registration page for the registration form or click the link below:

Welcome back!!
Here at Southern Cross, we are very excited to welcome you back to one of the premiere star parties on the planet.
Planning is underway and we will update this page regularly.
Again, Kudos to all who attended last year and showed patience and understanding. The situation was beyond our control but this year, FDOT is not invited to the star party......... :-)

As usual, we will have an excellent lineup of speakers and a few activities for you to participate in and enjoy. Along with the Beachwalk and Laser Tour, we will
once again have SCAS member, and commercial pilot, Martin Caminos returning to present his evening talk: An Introduction to Celestial Navigation.
This year he will be adding 1 or 2 more sessions to take a deep dive into demonstrating how to operate a sextant and its use in navigating the earth by the stars.

We will have our normal lineup of vendors including Explore Scientific, Celestron, and TeleVue to name a few.

Everything has remained essentially the same at both camps. Rustic camping with no facilities or power at Wesumkee. 
The Boys Scouts did erect a new bunk house for staff but it has no impact on the star party. All facilities remain on Camp Sawyer.
More details are below.

The information that follows is essentially the same as last year but we leave it as such for our new guests who have never been to the star party.
This Page will be updated continually.

MICKIE'S KITCHEN IS BACK!

Michelle, G.C, and the gang from Mickie's Kitchen will be returning to the star party this year for what looks to be their "Swan Song". It's retirement time for our brave crew who has gone where no one has gone before for us for 20 years. Southern Cross and Winter Star Party thank G.C. and Michelle for their many years of service and wish them a peaceful, star-studded retirement. So if you want to be there for the last appearance of Michelle's "world famous" WSP Brownies mark your calendar for October 1st for registration. I know I'll be There!!

 we have taken down the link for Mickey's kitchen Because we have received several emails that the link has been hijacked. Please email G. C. directly at: mic1111953@yahoo.com

 

We will open the gates at 10 AM on Monday, February 5th, as we did last year. We think that it works out well for everyone with an extra 2 hours on the field to get set up. The RV's will be given an arrival time beginning at 7 AM, please don't block the entrance gate at Wesumkee. If you are camping on Sawyer, you will be able to line up at 7 am as well. We will bring as many cars as possible into the driveway to get you off the road. There will be staff members there to help make this orderly. Your cooperation is appreciated. Stay tuned for any further announcements.

New this year!

We have been missing something, here at the Winter Star Party over the last couple of years.
So, in an effort to bring "the Yackers" back, we are raising the age limit to 15 and under.
No ticket or camping fees for your children under 16.

Post Idalia Update:

The Girl Scouts have reported no damage From That Storm However Early In The Week Of January 8th, Severe Weather Brought Several Tons Of Sand Onto The Berm. We Will Have A Contractor Do The Best He Can To Clean It Up, But Please Be Prepared.

The Boy Scouts experienced some minor flooding but Camp Sawyer is in excellent shape.

 

Post Star Party Update:

If you attended last year's star party, you know the condition that the camp was handed to us in. 
We just had our visual inspection and the property is in good shape. There was an event after the star party and as a bonus from their visit, the berm has been cleaned up! The property is overgrown but we did not find any of the debris that was there last year. Once we get the grass and brush cut down, we will have a much better idea about how much of the berm will be available. So Stay tuned................

 

COVID Announcement

Dear WSP Attendee,

Some of you may be concerned about COVID and whether we will enforce masks and ask for proof of vaccination. We are not in the position to enforce either masks or vaccinations. We ask that you observe all state and federal protocols with regard 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 39 years!

 

 

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.  Bortle Dark-Sky Scale
Click anywhere in the map to see the sky conditions. Light Pollution Map

 

 

Sunny days in the 70s and cool, calm nights in the 60s makes for a wonderful experience under the stars.
Take a look at the local weather on Big Pine Key

You will receive the details of your arrival time along with your tickets. We will again reach out to the church in Big Pine to see if you can use their parking lot for your RVs on Sunday night.
Your parking arrangement will be with the church staff. The number to the church is 305-872-2470.  Ask for Geri.

 

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

Camp Wesumkee

Since 2017, when Hurricane Irma struck and destroyed Camp Wesumkee, 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 Mickie's Kitchen.
We have changed our procedures to now allow small, quiet (below 65 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 across from Mickie's Kitchen as always. We are expecting reps from Celestron, TeleVue, Disc Mounts, and Starlight Instruments, just to name a few.
Mickie's Kitchen 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. 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 Wesumkee. There is no vehicle traffic permitted on the pass or on Camp Sawyer, so you must walk to the showers.
During the day you may also drive to Sawyer on the highway but please remember that if you go late afternoon, give yourself enough time to get back to the park on Wesumkee before 7 pm
otherwise, you will have to leave your car on the road.

As advertised, the Glam Tents are on Sawyer. Tent camping available on Camp Sawyer is in limited numbers and we only have enough parking spaces to accommodate 75 cars, Glamping or tenting. Once that number is reached Camp Sawyer will be turned off from the registration system and we will accept no more requests there. To accommodate that many cars, no trailers or RVs are allowed on Sawyer. Sawyer will also have electricity throughout 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.
 

We will be using the same configuration of the Glam Tents as last year.  Some will have 3 sets of metal bunk beds in the main room and 2 sets 
in the smaller side room and some will have 2 larger beds in the main room with the 2 sets of bunk beds in the small room.
Each person will occupy one set of bunk beds. You will sleep in the lower bunk and stow your gear in the upper bunk.

The Speaker presentations will be on Sawyer in an open-air venue. We are planning to have between 6 & 9 speakers this year. The finalized list will be available below  

Some of you have asked us for an aerial map of Camp Sawyer so that you can see the numbers on the glam tents. Please go to the following link. The tents are numbered one through 11 from left to right. Only tents one through eight are available for registrants.

https://satellites.pro/USA_map#24.648173,-81.312974,18

 

Speakers

 

The Speaker presentations will be on Sawyer in an open-air venue. We are planning to have 9 speakers this year. See the speaker list below.

This year we will have a special guest. Long time SCAS member and WSP volunteer, Joe Haldeman, will be signing autographs and fielding questions at the registration table on opening day.
 

 

Our speaker schedule starts Tuesday and will feature presentations from the following:

Dr. Mario Motta     Objects in the Southern Sky / My Dream Observatory 32” refractor.
Martin Caminos     An Introduction to Celestial Navigation
Richard Wright       Get Lucky, Lucky Imaging
Randy Shivak          Improving Your Solar Images
Charlie Warren       ASIAIR Beginners Guiode / Zen and the Art of Astronomical Pursuit
Mike Lockwood     Thermal Effect on Mirrors
Jon Talbot               Setting the Right Exposure Times and Adventures in Imaging the Unknown
Peggy Walker         The importance of knowing the culture of astronomy - through the old school hand made tools and equipment generation.

Scott Roberts         TBA

Vendors

We have the following confirmed vendors:

DiscMounts
Explore Scientific
Pentax Eyepieces
Starfield Optics
Benro Polaris Astro
Astronomy Shoppe
Hands on Optics
nPAE: Nottingham Precision Astro Engineering

Manufacturers

Representives from:

Telescope Engineering Company
APM Telescopes

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

Please be reminded that on Sunday Feb. 11th, all camp sites and vehicles must be off of both camps by 10 AM.

Have a look at our last star party here.....................
2023 Winter Star Party Recap


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.