Saturday, 11 November 2023, was a beautiful day at the beautiful Oracle State Park.

That evening, the Park, a DarkSky International (formerly known as the International Dark-Sky Association, IDA) "International Dark Sky Park", held a "Learn To Scope Star Party". First, a Telescope 101 workshop was conducted to packed audience, which included many first-time visitors to Oracle State Park.

A local telescope dealer, Starizona, provided 40 planispheres to workshop attendees.

Photos by Ethan Finch, Park Ranger

Mike Weasner, Oracle resident, amateur astronomer, and Park Volunteer, gave a talk on "Telescope Basics".

Mike also gave a short demonstration using the Park's Meade 10" Dobsonian telescope.

Ethan Finch, Park Ranger, then provided some telescope buying suggestions, the importance of viewing the night sky from a dark sky location like Oracle State Park, and the importance of protecting the night sky from Light Pollution.

Following the workshop, a star party was held outside under a dark sky with the Milky Way overhead. Members of the Tucson Amateur Astromomy Association (TAAA) had six telescopes set up and provided views of some objects in the night sky, including the planets Jupiter and Saturn, star clusters, and Comet C/2023 H2 (Lemmon) to the enthusiastic star party attendees.

Total attendance at the "Learn to Scope Star Party" was 114 adults and 13 children.

The event ended about 8:30pm. The Sky Quality reading was 21.23, which was reported to Globe at Night.

Many thanks to TAAA, Starizona, and the Friends of Oracle State Park for supporting the event.

Unless otherwise credited, photos by Mike Weasner.

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