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---+ February 25-27, 2022
*Event Type*: Special Event<br>
[[https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/death-valley-dark-sky-festival.htm][Death Valley Dark Sky Festival]]<br>

*Volunteers*:<br>
   * Cameron Hummels (Drive Friday morning w/telescopes and room for 1)
   * Tina Seeger
   * Dillon Dong (Drive Friday morning w/room for 3-4)
   * Kathryn Plant (Drive Friday afternoon w/room for ?)
   * Nitika Yadlapalli
   * Ryan Rubenzahl
   * Dee Dunne (Drive Friday morning w/room for 4)
   * Emily Silich
   * Janosz Dewberry
   * Gina Panopoulou

We will be assisting with the Death Valley National Park Dark Sky Festival to take place Friday-Sunday Feb 25-27.<br>
Our primary responsibilities will be to staff a booth with live demos and educational information at their Science Expo<br>
and run a star party on Saturday night with our own telescopes.  

In addition, Cameron will be giving an hour long lecture on galaxy evolution on Saturday and Sunday at 11:30AM.

DVNP will provide us with gas money to cover our transportation and a campsite for each of us in the educator<br>
section of the Texas Springs campsite, adjacent to where all program activities will occur at Furnace Creek.<br>

Drive time from Caltech to Furnace Creek is about 4.5-5h depending on the route and time of day.  I would plan to leave <br>
sometime on the morning of Friday, Feb 25 to avoid traffic and provide ample time for preparing for the weekend and exploring <br>
DVNP.  [[https://goo.gl/maps/uQsiYywu2HAC9Asx6][Google maps link to Furnace Creek]]<br>

Ideally we would have 8+ people participate, which would allow for everyone to only work one "day shift" of 3h at the <br>
Science Expo and then Star Party (~2 volunteers needed at any time). The rest of the time would be open for <br>
hiking and exploring the park.  

The science demos that I thought we could operate would be (1) "Build a Comet" using dry ice to show what composes
a comet; and (2) parabolic marshmallow igniter where we show how telescopes work to collect light from the Sun and focus it.<br>
We would also probably bring the good solar telescope (Coronado half-angstrom H-alpha) to show views of the Sun.<br>

For the star party, we would bring the Dobsonians (6", 8", 10") as well as our own private telescopes.  Cameron will bring his<br>
Unistellar eVscope2, and others are encouraged to bring theirs if they want.  DVNP rangers will also have a few telescopes<br>
on hand, including a 14" Orion Dobsonian.  We can also bring some laser pointers to help point things out.<br>

Rough schedule:<br>

*Friday, February 25*
   * Drive to DVNP (~4.5 hours) in morning
   * Prepare stuff for Saturday / Sunday
   * Free time to hike around and explore
   * Camp in cool isolated educator campsite at Texas Springs (near Furnace Creek)

*Saturday, February 26*
   * Team 1: Do live science demo and operate booth at outdoor Science Fair (10AM-4PM)
      * Team 1a: Shift 10AM-1PM
      * Team 1b: Shift 1PM-4PM
   * Team 2: Have the day off to explore and hike!
   * Tamale Dinner with all other presenters -- Free food (w/ vegan options) @ Cow Creek Volleyball Court (5PM-630PM)
   * Teams 1+2: Run Starparty with DVNP Rangers and telescopes outdoors (7-10PM)
   * Camp in cool isolated educator campsite at Texas Springs (near Furnace Creek)

*Sunday, February 27*
   * Team 1: Have the day off to explore and hike!
   * Team 2: Do live science demo and operate booth at outdoor Science Fair (10AM-4PM)
      * Team 2a: Shift 10AM-1PM
      * Team 2b: Shift 1PM-4PM
   * Drive back home (~4.5 hours) in evening
Topic revision: r8 - 2022-10-27 - OutreachAdmin