Urban Starfest on Saturday!

If you are New York City, this weekend is the annual Urban Starfest held in Sheep Meadow (Central Park).

While those of you from more rural areas may think it something of a joke to have a (mini) star party in the middle of the a major city, you would be surprised at what you can see.  Of course, at this time, the first quarter moon and Jupiter are easily visible in the early evening and those alone are worth the trip out if you (or your children!) have never looked at them through a telescope.  And with some of the scopes, the brighter deep-sky objects will be readily discernible, too.

While light pollution is a major problem here in NYC, the worst light pollution is always the closest.  My grandmother’s farm in rural Missouri has one of those horrible mercury-vapor lights in front of the house.  Sitting in her front yard near it you can’t see anything.  Similarly, in NYC, it’s hard to get away from the street lights.  However, in the middle of Sheep Meadow you are going to be about as far away from them as you can get and still be in the city.  For you more geeky amateur astronomers, the limiting magnitude at the zenith in NYC is 4.0-4.5 depending on the humidity.  While that can hardly be called good, it’s not as bad as most people seem to think.

Okay, there is one place I know of that is further from the street lights and still within the city.  If you ride one of the harbor ferries, you can sometimes find a spot on the upper desk without lights.  And it is very dark in the middle of the harbor.  Unfortunately, it is not amenable to using a telescope!