Speakers & Members

Gabriele Vajente

Gravitational-wave astronomy:
listening to the dark side of the universe

Only ten years ago the LIGO observatories detected the first gravitational wave signal coming from the collision of two black holes, opening a new window on the universe. Today, more than two hundred signals later, the field of gravitational-wave physics is one of the hottest in modern astronomy. But what are gravitational waves, what have we learned from them, and how can we detect such elusive signals?

Bio: Gabriele Vajente is the Deputy Head of System Science and Engineering of the LIGO Laboratory at Caltech, a national laboratory devoted to the observation of gravitational-wave signals from astrophysical objects such as colliding black holes and neutron stars. Gabriele is a physicist by education, and he has worked at the design, construction and operation of the largest gravitational-wave interferometric observatories in the world. He obtained his Ph.D. in experimental physics at Scuola Normal Superiore in Pisa, Italy, and he’s been working with the LIGO laboratory in various roles for twelve years. When he’s not working to increase the reach of the LIGO observatories, Gabriele likes to spend time running in the mountains or with his own telescope under dark skies in the desert.

Tour the Night Sky with Bhavesh

Bhavesh Parekh is a Portland Oregon amateur astronomer eager to share the night sky with you at the Oregon Star Party. With his years of experience in Astronomy, he has a wealth of knowledge. Whether you’re a beginner or experienced observer, come see him at the 802 road loop at sunset, 08:45 PM or 2045 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at OSP.
He has published 
” A Comprehensive Field Guide to the NGC”
a four-volume, 800-page, spiral bound field guide with approximately 7,000 NGC images (and metadata) printed on water-proof paper. 

Bhavesh also provides printing services specially catering to the astronomy community: printing star-finders, atlases on water-proof paper, astro-images on special photo paper, personalized, astronomy-themed calendars and greeting/note cards and more. 

Jon Brewster

Beginning Imaging

How do we capture the universe?  We’ll discuss equipment and
processing steps with a focus on basic techniques, with some advanced topics sprinkled in.

BIO: Jon Brewster is an avid astronomer and astrophotographer. He has photographed new stars being born, old stars blowing up, clusters of galaxies and more local things like comets and eclipses. He is retired from HP where he was a Technology Fellow.  He also spent a couple years in Hawaii working at Mauna Kea Observatories (astron my at 14,000 ft) where astrophotography is serious business.  His first OSP was 1997.  And if his other hobby is a bit odd (refurbishing steam locomotives), it’s still about “how things work” and getting it right, very right.  At least our telescopes don’t usually explode if we get something wrong.

Mike Shipman

Why Collect Visual or Imaging Data??

Or, The Utility and Process of Data Collection for Astrophotographers and Visual Astronomers

Mike will provide an educational overview of useful astronomical data to collect, why, and how, and the pros and cons of analog versus digital log books.

Mike Shipman is a full time photographer, artist, author, and former wildlife biologist. He ordered his first telescope in December, 2020 planning to photograph the Saturn/Jupiter conjunction later that month. He received his order that May and has been battling the clouds ever since. His photographs have been published in magazines around the world and he is the author of The Astrophotographer’s Log Book, The Visual Astronomer’s Log Book, The Exposure Equation: A Practical Method of Understanding Exposure, The Ecology of Photography: Senses and Perception, and Big Toe Joe: The Legend of Canary Row; all are handmade in his home studio (except Ecology available through Amazon). He teaches photography and leads workshops worldwide through his business, Blue Planet Photography.

You can see his work at:

Seth Jelen

Exploring Cosmology Assumptions

Seth is a graduate of California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and of Stanford. Astronomy enthusiast since childhood. Studied cosmology for over 40 years. Attended OSP for many years.

Over many years assumptions about cosmology have been taken as facts. This presentation will offer new insights (nothing crazy) about several assumptions culminating in showing you how you too can derive the Hubble curve including relativistic effects for the Standard Cosmology Model using high school math. No Einstein field equations or Riemann geometry required. The curve exactly matches the computed curve of Supernovae 1A luminosity-redshift published in the 1998 work for which Perlmutter, Riess, and Schmidt shared the 2011 Nobel prize. 

Wade Hilmo

Preventing Light Leaks in the Age of Technology

The advent of technology has many of us using computers, tablets and smart phones at the telescope.  In a star party environment, the light from these screens can affect not only your dark adaptation, but your neighbors’ as well.  Learn some simple steps to help control light emissions from the myriad devices that we use at our telescopes, so that we can all make the most of OSP’s dark skies.

Wade is a retired software engineer and has been involved in amateur astronomy for more than 25 years and has been at every OSP since 2001.  He enjoys visual observing, but is primarily an astrophotographer.  He also enjoys giving back to the amateur astronomy community and serves on the OSP committee, as a moderator on Cloudy Nights, and enjoys helping others with either visual or imaging problems while his fully automated system works in the background.

Dave Sandage

An Introduction to Automated & Unattended Imaging

Dave will explore the wide range of automated and unattended imagine from a simple intervalometer and a DSLR camera to remote imaging from a distant site and everything in between. He’ll look at the equipment and software you’ll need to get started and talk about some best practices for successful imaging.

You can see some of his recent CCD (images) here:

Michael McKeag

Don’t Take These Dark Night Skies for Granted

The Light Pollution Map you may all be familiar with is based on 2015 satellite data, it never changes. New maps based on annually updated satellite data tell an alarming story of light pollution expansion, and shrinkage of the remaining regions of pristine dark night skies. This threat can be addressed if we act.

Bio: Retired after 30 years as an electron microscopist in the semiconductor process development team at Intel, with interests spanning the scale range from nanometers to light-years.  An amateur photographer since childhood, an amateur astronomer and RCA member since a couple of decades ago, a dark skies advocate since helping organize the 2016 Gorge Night Sky Conference, a DarkSky International delegate, and co-founder and board member of DarkSky Oregon, the Oregon chapter of DarkSky International.

Michael Dempster

Experience Your Cosmic Flight

The Galactic Context Model is a new type of astronomy model, which is useful in both teaching basic astronomy, and for helping astronomy enthusiasts more easily visualize the flight of our piece of the Earth through the Galaxy in real time

BIO: My dad was a mechanic and loved to build things.  My Scottish aunt showered me with science books when I was a kid.  I’ve always loved to play with water and air, and build things.  I like boating and playing guitar.  I remember seeing Sputnik fly over my apartment block in New Jersey in 1957, and human’s first landing on the moon in 1969.  Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos” series knocked my socks off.  He said we need to cultivate a level of awe appropriate to the grandeur of our situation: conscious creatures stuck by gravity to a round rock that flies around a star, adrift in space. 
That’s been a big part of my work as an elementary school science teacher in Olympia, Washington, for 30 years — cultivating awe for the beauty we’re immersed in.  Curiosity about the geometry of how we’re flying through space led me to build models, which have culminated in what I think is a beautiful new type of astronomy model.  It has extraordinary explanatory power.  I’d love to share it with you.

Erika Plummer

Aurora and Space Weather

The story of Richard Carrington and how to maximize seeing Auroras at Lower Latitudes

How did astronomers like Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson correlate sunspots with Auroras seen on Earth? How to interpret NOAA Space Weather data to be on alert for optimal Aurora viewing as well as tips for photographing Auroras with digital cameras.

Erika Plummer has been chasing Auroras in the Pacific NW for over 15 years with her digital cameras – finding repeated success during solar cycles 24 & 25. She considers herself an amateur Space Weather enthusiast and astrophotographer. She grew up at the base of Mount Palomar in San Diego, CA  which at the time housed the world’s largest telescope – sparking a life long passion for astronomy. She is a current member of the International Dark Sky Association and spends time volunteering throughout Oregon to teach communities about the importance of star gazing and mitigating light pollution. Erika spends over 100 nights a year visiting Dark Sky sanctuaries and photographing the night sky.

You can see her work here:

Dave Kasnick –
Telescope Walkabout Host

A tradition for more than two decades, the Oregon Star Party Telescope Walkabout celebrates and promotes telescope making and innovation.

With gratitude we extend a sincere thanks to Mel Bartels for initiating and fostering this invaluable promotional event. 

On behalf of two decades’ worth of OSP attendees and numerous telescope makers we express our deep appreciation. 

Thank you, Mel, for your pioneering efforts!

Dave’s Biography

My fascination with astronomy started at the age of 11 during summer camp where I earned the astronomy merit badge. Ever since, the cosmos has been an integral part of my life’s journey. Throughout my teenage years, I was privileged to be a member of the Goldendale Observatory club, granting me exclusive access to the 24.5-inch domed telescope.  It was amidst the company of fellow enthusiasts gathered on the hillside of Goldendale Observatory that I witnessed the 1979 total solar eclipse.

At the age of 14, I eagerly acquired my inaugural telescope, an 8-inch equatorial Newtonian, further fueling my passion for observing the night sky.
Driven by a quest for more aperture, in 2002 I began constructing a 22-inch Dobsonian telescope, based on the foundational book by Kriege and Berry “The Dobsonian Telescope”. Fast forward to 2021, and I undertook the task of redesigning and enhancing the 22-inch Dobsonian to incorporate motorized tracking.

Since 1998, I’ve been a devoted attendee of the Oregon Star Party, relishing events like the Telescope Walkabout, where I’ve marveled at the ingenuity and creativity of fellow amateur astronomers. As both an engineer and a stargazer, I take great pleasure in supporting this OSP tradition.

Brian Hatley – Observing Programs

Brian Hatley will talk about the OSP observing program to familiarize attendees with the five lists.  Attendees will hear what the program is all about, how it works, and what lists might be of most interest to try.  Content and highlights of each will be discussed.

Bio:

Brian’s astronomy passion began in grade school… the Apollo missions, sci-fi, and Astronomy magazines ignited his interest, and it’s never faded.  His science and electronics interest drove him to earn a BS in Electrical Engineering.  His career started at a small audio company, then moved to Boeing where he held many design and lead roles in audio systems design, logic & chip design, networks and communications, and large systems labs architecture, development, and operation.  He recently retired but now supports Boeing as a contractor.

Brian’s astronomy hobby started with a big pair of binoculars and attending his first OSP in 2000, starting with Messiers and other brighter “faint fuzzies.”  By 2005 he “graduated” to a 10” Dob with “push-to” location automation.  A couple years later the automation failed (coincidentally with first hearing about observing programs) so Brian bought a detailed star atlas and started to work through a list.  That was the catalyst… He’s done observing lists annually ever since – never returning to location automation (even after repair).

Over the years, he developed his skills, and at OSP earned pins for all the list types.  “There’s nothing like the amazing views and beauty of objects in sky,” per Brian.  The other part, he says, is the thrill of the “hunt.”  “Can it be found?  Can it be seen?  Will a filter help?  How far can I push the limits?“  Now Brian is building a bigger telescope and adding night vision to look even deeper.

After supporting list checking in 2017 (busy year… eclipse) he was offered leadership of the observing program – his answer was YES!  His viewpoint is “What better way to give back for all the joy of observing than to help others experience the very same thing!”

Brian Hatley

CHRIS DIX

(Co-Director) Welcome to OSP Q&A

Chris was introduced to the night sky at the age of 9 by his father when he viewed the moon thru his father’s homemade 3-inch reflector.  This telescope was constructed from an Edmunds Scientific surplus mirror, a cardboard mailing tube, a microscope eyepiece, rectangular diagonal, and a focuser that slid along the axis of the OTA.  At the age of 12 Chris received a 3-inch refractor for Christmas.  Crunching through the fresh crust of ice that covered the snow in a Boston suburb backyard, he got his first glimpse of Saturn’s rings.  Although a wee speck in the field of view – the hook was set.  Later in High School the objective of the 3-inch refractor was removed and placed in a cardboard tube that was mounted to his 35mm camera (poor-mans telephoto) that was used to take photos during Friday night football games for the school newspaper. After graduating from the University of Tennessee with a BS in Engineering Physics, he joined the Smokey Mountain Astronomical Society (SMAS) that met in the Physics building on the Knoxville campus.  Borrowing a 10-inch Dobsonian from the club, he started chasing Messier objects and learning the night sky.  When his father retired and moved from Florida to be near the grandchildren, Chris invited him to a club Star Party.  The November air was cold and steady.  In an 8-inch long focal length outfitted with a Barlow and short focus eyepiece Jupiter filled the field-of-view and we all took turns watching the shadow of a transiting moon.  This was a full-circle kind of event and I felt blessed to share the experience with my father.

Chris earned his MS in Material Science and then moved to Oregon in 2001 to work a Lattice Semiconductor.  His first OSP was 2002 and he purchased a pair of binoculars with which he completed the Messier Binocular in 2016 (slow and steady). In addition to the 8-inch “planet killer” f10 telescope reconstruction (the inspiration to use a spreadsheet for optical design), Chris has also been grinding a 12-inch “honeycombed” f3 mirror.

www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwdix/

Chris Dix

MARIANNE RAMONA

(Co-Director)-Welcome to OSP Q&A

From her humble beginnings as a child whose interest in the stars started with a book, Know the Stars by H.A. Rey to a trip to Steens Mountain, alone, Marianne has developed a love of astronomy as an adult.

From the old Tasco telescope her brothers had to the Celestron C102 4 inch refractor full manual telescope on a beautiful new German Equatorial mount, she’s looking forward to taking her equipment out to Indian Trail.

Her love of science came from being a Girl Scout, going to places like the Exploratorium in San Francisco, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and many other places she took her children to. She spent 30 plus years as a Respiratory Therapist and Pulmonary Function Technician.
She attributes her interest in stargazing based on a trip to Steens Mountain. She and a work colleague in the 1990’s had a conversation about stargazing. He told her, “If you want to stargaze somewhere amazing, go to Steens Mountain”. She made the trek, alone, with her Doberman, Sasha, to Fish Lake campground. The stars were so bright and they looked so close she felt she could reach out and touch them.
This trip to Steens Mountain Wilderness had indirectly lead her to her first Oregon Star Party in 2013.
She’s been every year since ‘touching the stars’.