The Texas Star Party (TSP) is a large annual

star party A star party is a gathering of amateur astronomers the purpose of observing objects and events in the sky. Local star parties may be one-night affairs, but larger events can last a week or longer and attract hundreds or even thousands of partic ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. TSP was started by

Deborah Byrd Deborah Byrd (born March 1, 1951 in San Antonio, Texas) is an American science journalist. She is editor-in-chief of EarthSky, which presents science news and night sky information. The website served more than 21 million users in 2019, according t ...

, members of the Austin Astronomical Society, and

McDonald Observatory McDonald Observatory is an astronomical observatory located near unincorporated community of Fort Davis in Jeff Davis County, Texas, United States. The facility is located on Mount Locke in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, with additional facil ...

in August 1979. It was a weekend gathering of amateur astronomers at Davis Mountains State Park near McDonald Observatory in far west Texas. In 1982, TSP was reorganized as a week-long event and was held at the Prude Guest Ranch near

Fort Davis, Texas Fort Davis is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jeff Davis County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,201 at the 2010 census, up from 1,050 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Jeff Davis County. Hist ...

. For one year only, in 1997, the event was held at Alto Frio Baptist Encampment, on the banks of the

Frio River The Frio River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas. The word ''frío'' is Spanish for ''cold'', a clear reference to the spring-fed coolness of the river. Geography The Frio River has three primary tributaries; the East, West, and Dry Frio Ri ...

, 40 miles north of

Uvalde, Texas Uvalde is a city and the county seat of Uvalde County, Texas, United States. The population was 15,217 at the 2020 census. Uvalde is located in the Texas Hill Country, west of downtown San Antonio and east of the Mexico–United States bord ...

. Also in 1997, "''Texas Star Party, Inc.''" was registered as a Texas Non-Profit Corporation. In 1998, TSP returned to Prude Ranch, where it continues to be held annually in late April or in May near the time of

new moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...

. By 2007, the event attracted 580 attendees, even though the weather was very poor. Attendees mostly come from across North America, and some from far overseas. Activities include dark sky observing and imaging, an

astrophotography Astrophotography, also known as astronomical imaging, is the photography or imaging of astronomical objects, celestial events, or areas of the night sky. The first photograph of an astronomical object (the Moon) was taken in 1840, but it was no ...

contest, guest speakers, tours of McDonald Observatory, commercial vendors, and the opportunity to view numerous home built telescopes and gadgets. TSP is well known for its very dark skies due to its elevation in the Davis Mountains of around and it remoteness from artificial light sources. It has strongly supported efforts to reduce

light pollution Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive use of artificial Visible spectrum, lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting, during the day ...

. Two annual awards have traditionally been presented at TSP: The Lone Star Gazer Award (for personal achievement, accomplishment, and expertise) and The Omega Centauri Award (for public awareness and/or promotion of astronomy). Complete lists of all past award winners as well as past guest speakers may be found on the TSP History page listed below. The TSP's observing fields at the Prude Ranch are the central field, the upper field, the upper-upper field, and the lower field. The TSP holds telescope programs of varying levels, binocular programs, a novice program, and an advanced observing program. The programs require the participant to observe a certain number of specified objects, and completion of a program will be awarded by a pin and in some cases another award. The binocular programs are usually a regular binocular program, an advanced binocular program, and a binocular program "from hell". While at TSP 1996, Brian A. Skiff named one of the

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

s that he had previously discovered. That asteroid, 4932 Texstapa (), was discovered on March 9, 1984 and was named for the Texas Star Party on the occasion of its 18th anniversary in May 1996. The TSP is run by around 50-70 volunteers each year, drawn mostly from amateur astronomy clubs with support from the University of Texas’ McDonald Observatory. The 42nd TSP was cancelled in 2020 caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. It was deferred to 2021.

References

General references

TSP History page of Official Texas Star Party Website

External links

Official Texas Star Party Website

Forecast of astronomical observing conditions for Texas Star Party. {{Astronomy navbox Amateur astronomy organizations Star parties Texas culture Science events in the United States Annual events in Texas

See also

References

General references

External links