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Julian StarFest 2023

August 11-12, 2023  Menghini Winery, Julian, CA

Brought to you by the San Diego Astronomy Association (SDAA) and the town of Julian

Calendar of Activities

Live Feed - Woody Shlom

The "Live Feed" astro-video tent theater displays live and nearly-live video from telescopes onto video monitors and a video projection screen.  Because the cameras are much more sensitive than the human eye -- you will see the celestial objects in color and in much greater detail than through an eyepiece.   

During the day,  two side-by-side solar scopes, each with its own camera pointed at the same area of the sun, display different live detailed images because one scope "sees" the outer Chromosphere, while the other scope "sees" the next layer down, the Photosphere.     You'll see delicate and bold prominences on the Sun's limb reaching several Earth-diameters out into black space, and filaments, plage, hot-spots and perhaps a sunspot or two on the Sun's surface. You never know what kind of show the sun will put on -- and it constantly changes throughout the day. And who knows, you might even see a CME - Coronal Mass Ejection -- it happened a couple of years ago at    JSF.  

After dark, a computer-controlled telescope will tour the sky and display a deep-sky sampler of celestial objects including colorful    nebulae, dazzling globular clusters and multi-shaped far-away galaxies. No guarantees, but we found and displayed a comet with a faint tail last year.

Guest Speakers

We are planning another year of outstanding speakers! Speaker list and schedule will be added here as they are confirmed.

Activities

Activities on Friday and Saturday are available in the Vendor/Exhibit area.

Note: Day use does not require pre-registration.  Admission to the Vendor / Exhibit area is $5.00 per adult, $2.50 for Teens (13 to 18) payable at the gate.  Children, 12 and under are free.  Admission for registered campers is included in their camping fee.  Just show your wrist band for admission to the Vendor / Exhibit area. 

You only have to pay once for admission.  Your wrist band will allow you entrance for both days of activities.

Prizes

Here are just some of the prizes offered in the 5 PM Opportunity Drawing on August 6th:

FOCUS Astronomy Outreach: 3” f/4 table top Dobsonian “Heritage” telescope (KIDS ONLY DRAWING)

Sky-Watcher USA: 6” Traditional Dobsonian (KIDS ONLY DRAWING)

Explore Scientific: 100° 9mm eyepiece

Celestron: SkyMaster Pro 15x70 binocular

Losmandy Astronomical Products: Gift Cards

Palomar College Planetarium: Passes

Sky-Watcher USA: 16” Collapsible Dobsonian: The 16” Collapsible dobsonian is Sky-Watcher's largest production telescope. The 16” mirror offers 4x more light gather power than an 8” telescope. The collapsible design allows for easier transport and storage while the base breaks into pieces to make it lighter. With a retail price of $2199 Sky-Watcher USA is pleased to offer our largest telescope as a door prize for the 9 th annual Julian Starfest.