Meet the Night Sky at Chino Hills State Park

On Saturday, 13 August @ 7:30 p.m., the Chino Hills State Park Interpretive Association is hosting "Meet the Night Sky" in which participants will "learn about the scale of the universe and our place in it."

Jeff Schroeder, a founding member of the Pomona Valley Amateur Astronomers group some forty-five years ago and who retired not long ago after thirty-five years as an optical engineer and flight technician at JPL (the Jet Propulsion Laboratory run by NASA) in Pasadena, is the special guest speaker.

Schroeder, whose work involved such projects as the Galileo and Cassini space missions, the Infrared Astronomy Satellite, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory and more, has also, for thrity-six years, been a lecturer and show producer at the Mount San Antonio College planetariu,  Finally, he is a part-time operator of the massive 60" and 100" telescopes at the Mount Wilson Observatory.

Attendance to this event is limited to the first 250 people who register for the event here.  The program will end about Midnight and will be held at the Rolling M Ranch, which is accessible from 4721 Sapphire Road in Chino Hills and then, after paying the $5 park use fee at the entrance, driving along the Upper Bane Canyon Road to the ranch.

The adjacent campground is also available for participants who want to enjoy the park overnight, with sites available with additional fees on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more park information, click here.

Chino Hills State Park Tour of the Stars a Big Success!

Jeff Schroeder of Pomona Valley Amateur Astronomers addresses an overflow crowd at the Rolling M Ranch amphitheater.  Photos courtesy of Hills for Everyone.

This past Saturday evening's program organized by the Chino Hills State Park Interpretive Association and concerning a "tour of the stars" was a trememdous hit as more than 350 persons attended the event.

Jeff Schroeder of the Pomona Valley Amateur Astronomers led the "tour" and it was reported that people were arriving as late as 11 p.m., just an hour before the conclusion.  All available parking spots were snapped up and every seat on the benches of the Rolling M Ranch amphitheater was occupied, with people sitting on the concrete floor and standing four-deep on the perimeter!

Volvos are not only renowned for safety but apparently make excellent telescope platforms!

Guests waited in lines that wrapped around the parking area to get a look at the evening sky through telescopes--the location was particularly good for viewing the stars as the elevation and distance from nearby developed locations kept ambient light at as low a level as you can get in the area.

One organizer state that it was "quite a night" and that the remarkable turnout and accompanying interest demonstrates that "there was a real hunger for darkness/stars and information."

Guests view a display of meteorites at last Saturday's astronomy event.

This blogger was really hoping to be there with the family, but was out of town.  Maybe there will be an encore offered in the not-too-distant future.