John Reed Home Page Okie Tex 2002 Starparty

In October 2002 I made the long trek from Arkansas to the the Okie-Tex Star Party held near Kenton, OK. We had all types of observing experiences including a major storm, a bright meteor (bolide) and an unexpected view of the Aurora. Danny Flippo, Thomas Baskins and I ( CAAS members) camped together and enjoyed the extremely dark, clear skies. Of course the wind blew the 18" over, but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed! This was my second visit to Black Mesa, I first went there in 1999.

The Photos:

Okie-Tex at Night: This panorama is similar to one I took in 1999. It was taken with my Olympus OM-1 using a 28mm wide angle lens. I then spliced the photos together in the computer to make this nighttime panorama of the horizon and observing field. The view is primarily looking west toward the wall of the canyon in which Camp Billie Joe is located. Observers' red flashlights danced across during the exposures. The bright red light is inside a tarp windbreak as it was quite windy most of the time. He could be heard pounding posts into the ground late at night!

Camp Panorama: One day about mid-week I came out of the dining hall after supper. I found the sunset rather breath-taking. Everyone was heading back to camp to prepare for another night's observing. As I was taking pictures I caught one fellow several times (he's wearing a hat).

Camp Billie-Joe: I took this shot from the east canyon rim looking west. The Camp is a church youth camp most of the time until inhabited by this strange star-gazing folk with their silver- wrapped telescopes, RV's and SUV's. Our camp is just to the left of the round bush near the center.

Moonset: The first part of the week the moon was at last quarter setting at about 3:00pm. I caught it just before moonset above this mesa.

Our Campsite: Danny Flippo is setting up for the night (the tri-pod is really not bent!) Thomas Baskins is in the background. We spent 6 nights and days here, but the time went fast.

Flamingos: I'm not quite sure what to say about this one. Apparently it is an Okie-Tex tradition. I caught these fellows setting up this strange tableau atop the east canyon wall.

Flamingo Vista: These pink, plastic birds kept watch over us all week. (Black Mesa spanning the far northern horizon.)

The North Field: This area became like a small city as the week wore on. I remember being lost on Friday night in a forest of RV's! The bunch from Kansas City is up here somewhere.

Our Neighbors: this is a shot of the folks just to the north of us. The strange teeter-totter is a mount for a pair of giant ship's binoculars. They gave a magnificent view of The Andromeda Galaxy. My 18" can be seen at right.

The Hike up the Mesa: when I was at the starparty in 1999 I wanted to follow the park trail up the massive flat-topped mountain, but there was not time to do it all. This time, however, Danny and I did do it. It is about 10 miles round trip. I grabbed this shot from the south side of the mountain looking toward the starparty. The party is located to the left inside the canyon, while tiny Kenton is to the right. Danny talked me into hiking all the way to the marker indicating Oklahoma's highest point. I thought we would never make it back to the soft seats of his truck!

Mt. Capulin: Danny, Thomas and I made a day trip to Mt. Capulin Volcano near Capulin, New Mexico. Danny and I found the hike around the lip of the crater to be almost spiritual. Near by Serria Grande Peak apparently had cell towers so we were able to call home with our mobiles. Strange! I was talking to my wife while looking at infinite, windswept vistas. The shot here is of Danny with Serria Grande on the horizon

Inside the cauldera: The short trail down into the crater was interesting and unusual. Funny, but it was just as windy here as up on the rim. Used the Nikon Coolpix with fish-eye attachment to get the whole thing. Danny and Thomas are behind me (top of picture).

Dustlanes: The Milkyway's core is visible from Arkansas, but because it is always so low from this latitude it is never very striking due to moisture and light pollution. The panhandle's dry, high-altitude skies allowed it to shine forth somewhat closer to its true glory. Someday I hope to travel to down-under to see it straight up! This is a 30 minute exposure with Elite-chrome 200 pushed one stop. The Lagoon Nebula is near the center with the Swan at the top. The dust threading its way through the starry core simply hides what is really a continuous blanket of starfields. Check out the chart overlay to see what constellations are visible in this exposure.

The Red Light Grille: the red bulb marking the entrance to our midnight snack bar was not really as bright as the exposure would indicate. We made several pilgrimages to this mecca of greasy burgers and fries, our way lit by galactic star clouds.

Milkyway Mosaic: Over the course of several nights I made shots of various sections of our home galaxy using my OM-1 with a 28mm lens. I had a little trouble splicing them together because of wide angle lens distortion. Next time I will use a 50mm and take more shots. Anyway here it is. Also I was able to make an animated gif of the Milkyway Setting.

The Coming of the Storm: this beautiful sunset marked the beginning of what turned out to be an eventful night. The weather had been predicting storms all day and it seemed that we were seeing the leading edge of a thunderstorm cell. Beautiful none the less! I took so many shots of it that I was able to make an animation from some of the shots.

The Coming of the Storm: by this time the wind was picking up. We tied down everything we could think of, including the 18" (didn't want the thing to fall again!).

Thunderhead: after about a hour of being hammered by strong winds and rain it stopped and began to clear. Desert weather I guess! To our south east anther cell marched across the horizon, being lit by stabs of lighting. It almost looked like an angry, pulsating brain brooding upon the distant canyon wall. The stars above made for an eerie juxtaposition. We watched as nature bared her teeth, however she let us live to ponder her fearsome majesty. Again I made an animation of the lighting illuminated cloud.

Aurora: after the storm passed dark clouds continued to stream by all night. As it cleared we began to notice a slight glow to the north. A discussion broke out as to what it really was, some wondering if the Aurora Borealis could be visible this far south. I think this picture bears out the fact that that was indeed what it was. As the clouds continued to stream by, I made more exposures. Check out the animation of these showing how the Aurora changed with time. During the exposure the clouds covered the stars from time to time, making then appear to stutter in lieu of forming a continuous trail.

Bolide!: The following night I was making more exposures of the north horizon hoping to catch the Aurora again. I stepped into the camper to check on something when I heard a roar from the camp population. When I ran back out of course it was gone. Everyone was still talking about it, but I had missed it, or had I? After I learned where in the sky it appeared I thought my camera might have caught it. There was also some discussion of an iridium flair in that general direction, but I prefer to believe it was a meteor. I made another exposure of that area and put them together into an animation which shows the sky during and after the Bolide. Notice how the Aurora does faintly affect the north and changes between frames.

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This page was created by John W. Reed on December 6 2000. Contact: jreed007 at centurytel dot net.

	Okie-Tex at Night: This panorama is similar to one I took in 1999. It was taken with my Olympus OM-1 using a 28mm wide angle lens. I then spliced the photos together in the computer to make this nighttime panorama of the horizon and observing field. The view is primarily looking west toward the wall of the canyon in which Camp Billie Joe is located. Observers' red flashlights danced across during the exposures. The bright red light is inside a tarp windbreak as it was quite windy most of the time. He could be heard pounding posts into the ground late at night!
	Camp Panorama: One day about mid-week I came out of the dining hall after supper. I found the sunset rather breath-taking. Everyone was heading back to camp to prepare for another night's observing. As I was taking pictures I caught one fellow several times (he's wearing a hat).
	Camp Billie-Joe: I took this shot from the east canyon rim looking west. The Camp is a church youth camp most of the time until inhabited by this strange star-gazing folk with their silver- wrapped telescopes, RV's and SUV's. Our camp is just to the left of the round bush near the center.
	Moonset: The first part of the week the moon was at last quarter setting at about 3:00pm. I caught it just before moonset above this mesa.
	Our Campsite: Danny Flippo is setting up for the night (the tri-pod is really not bent!) Thomas Baskins is in the background. We spent 6 nights and days here, but the time went fast.
	Flamingos: I'm not quite sure what to say about this one. Apparently it is an Okie-Tex tradition. I caught these fellows setting up this strange tableau atop the east canyon wall.
	Flamingo Vista: These pink, plastic birds kept watch over us all week. (Black Mesa spanning the far northern horizon.)
	The North Field: This area became like a small city as the week wore on. I remember being lost on Friday night in a forest of RV's! The bunch from Kansas City is up here somewhere.
	Our Neighbors: this is a shot of the folks just to the north of us. The strange teeter-totter is a mount for a pair of giant ship's binoculars. They gave a magnificent view of The Andromeda Galaxy. My 18" can be seen at right.
	The Hike up the Mesa: when I was at the starparty in 1999 I wanted to follow the park trail up the massive flat-topped mountain, but there was not time to do it all. This time, however, Danny and I did do it. It is about 10 miles round trip. I grabbed this shot from the south side of the mountain looking toward the starparty. The party is located to the left inside the canyon, while tiny Kenton is to the right. Danny talked me into hiking all the way to the marker indicating Oklahoma's highest point. I thought we would never make it back to the soft seats of his truck!
	Mt. Capulin: Danny, Thomas and I made a day trip to Mt. Capulin Volcano near Capulin, New Mexico. Danny and I found the hike around the lip of the crater to be almost spiritual. Near by Serria Grande Peak apparently had cell towers so we were able to call home with our mobiles. Strange! I was talking to my wife while looking at infinite, windswept vistas. The shot here is of Danny with Serria Grande on the horizon
	Inside the cauldera: The short trail down into the crater was interesting and unusual. Funny, but it was just as windy here as up on the rim. Used the Nikon Coolpix with fish-eye attachment to get the whole thing. Danny and Thomas are behind me (top of picture).
	Dustlanes: The Milkyway's core is visible from Arkansas, but because it is always so low from this latitude it is never very striking due to moisture and light pollution. The panhandle's dry, high-altitude skies allowed it to shine forth somewhat closer to its true glory. Someday I hope to travel to down-under to see it straight up! This is a 30 minute exposure with Elite-chrome 200 pushed one stop. The Lagoon Nebula is near the center with the Swan at the top. The dust threading its way through the starry core simply hides what is really a continuous blanket of starfields. Check out the chart overlay to see what constellations are visible in this exposure.
	The Red Light Grille: the red bulb marking the entrance to our midnight snack bar was not really as bright as the exposure would indicate. We made several pilgrimages to this mecca of greasy burgers and fries, our way lit by galactic star clouds.
	Milkyway Mosaic: Over the course of several nights I made shots of various sections of our home galaxy using my OM-1 with a 28mm lens. I had a little trouble splicing them together because of wide angle lens distortion. Next time I will use a 50mm and take more shots. Anyway here it is. Also I was able to make an animated gif of the Milkyway Setting.
	The Coming of the Storm: this beautiful sunset marked the beginning of what turned out to be an eventful night. The weather had been predicting storms all day and it seemed that we were seeing the leading edge of a thunderstorm cell. Beautiful none the less! I took so many shots of it that I was able to make an animation from some of the shots.
	The Coming of the Storm: by this time the wind was picking up. We tied down everything we could think of, including the 18" (didn't want the thing to fall again!).
	Thunderhead: after about a hour of being hammered by strong winds and rain it stopped and began to clear. Desert weather I guess! To our south east anther cell marched across the horizon, being lit by stabs of lighting. It almost looked like an angry, pulsating brain brooding upon the distant canyon wall. The stars above made for an eerie juxtaposition. We watched as nature bared her teeth, however she let us live to ponder her fearsome majesty. Again I made an animation of the lighting illuminated cloud.
	Aurora: after the storm passed dark clouds continued to stream by all night. As it cleared we began to notice a slight glow to the north. A discussion broke out as to what it really was, some wondering if the Aurora Borealis could be visible this far south. I think this picture bears out the fact that that was indeed what it was. As the clouds continued to stream by, I made more exposures. Check out the animation of these showing how the Aurora changed with time. During the exposure the clouds covered the stars from time to time, making then appear to stutter in lieu of forming a continuous trail.
	Bolide!: The following night I was making more exposures of the north horizon hoping to catch the Aurora again. I stepped into the camper to check on something when I heard a roar from the camp population. When I ran back out of course it was gone. Everyone was still talking about it, but I had missed it, or had I? After I learned where in the sky it appeared I thought my camera might have caught it. There was also some discussion of an iridium flair in that general direction, but I prefer to believe it was a meteor. I made another exposure of that area and put them together into an animation which shows the sky during and after the Bolide. Notice how the Aurora does faintly affect the north and changes between frames.