The 12th Annual Fox Park Star Party is being held August 25th - August 28th at Fox Memorial Park near Potterville, Michigan, SW of Lansing. All but $5 of every registration fee goes directly into the Observatory's fund that is used for upgrading, maintaining and operating this fantastic public observatory.
One Night, Individual/family: $20
Two Nights, Individual/family: $30
Three Nights, Individual/family: $40
Registration fees include all camping and entrance fees to the park for the entire weekend. Power for any and all astronomical equipment is available at no charge. There is a nice beach, walking trails, decent restrooms (sorry, only an outside beach shower), playgrounds and plenty of room for tents and RV's. If you don't like to camp, there are hotels available within 5-15 miles in Lansing and Charlotte.
Registration will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 25th and feel free to show up anytime on Friday or Saturday as well. Our Star Party is pretty informal so all you need to do is check in with Jason when you arrive or after you set up. The chain restricting access to the observatory road will be put up at sundown. If you are not staying the night, you will need to park in the lot at the bottom of the hill.
While Fox Park doesn't offer the pristine skies of northern Michigan, the skies are still more than dark enough for serious observing and imaging. Limiting Magnitude at Zenith is approximately 5.5 to 5.7 on most nights. The location is close to Interstate's 69 and 96 so it is easily accessible for all the major cities of southern Michigan and beyond. The main purpose of the event is to give all of us obsessed astrophotographers and observers a long weekend to hang out and observe/image our night skies while at the same time helping a great facility continue to introduce our great hobby of amateur astronomy to hundreds of new people every year. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions.
We are hoping to add some imaging based presentations and/or teachings this year so if there is something you would like to present, just reach out.
Thanks!
Fox Park Obs Vounteer Team
Address of Observatory: 3981 E Gresham Hwy, Potterville, MI 48876
