The Minnesota Astronomical Society Proudly Sponsors:

The Minnesota Astronomical Society invites you to the fourth annual Camping With the Stars taking place at the MAS Onan Observatory. Onan Observatory is located within Carver County Baylor Regional Park, about 45 minutes Southwest of Minneapolis and 3 miles north of Norwood-Young America.

The observatory is a handicap accessible, state-of-the-art facility with three robotic telescopes and a 20” reflecting telescope that is ready to show you the skies. Come see the stars through our three visual platforms that include a 14” and 16” Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes as well as numerous refractors or sit back and enjoy live video of planets, star clusters, galaxies and nebula on the observatory imaging system. Enjoy a tour of the sky by one of our dedicated volunteers or bring your own telescope. There will be talks, prizes, solar viewing, and fun activities throughout the day and into the night.

Baylor Regional Park offers 50 camping sites. Thirty-five sites have water and electrical hookups and 15 sites are primitive. For the Camping with the Stars event, the park opens up additional campsites at the foot of the observatory where you can set up your own scope or take the short walk to view through some of the best amateur telescopes available. Other facilities include: picnic areas, showers, swimming beach, beach house, reservable picnic shelters, tennis courts, sand volleyball court, group camping area and horseshoe pits and an 18 hole disc golf course.

2011 Registration fees

Utility Campsite in family campground + MAS EVENT Registration $87.00
Primitive Campsite in family campground + MAS EVENT Registration $75.00
Group Camp Setting in Ball field near Onan + MAS EVENT Registration $51.00
Extra Person - $5/each for weekend
Daily Admissions (not camping) to MAS EVENT $10.00/person/day

* All registration fees are for up to 4 people
* Registration fees include:
    - Two nights of camping
    - Vehicle permits
    - Wristband for MAS Activities
    - Door prize drawing

Call the Carver County Park Office at 952-466-5250 to register and reserve your spot.

Schedule of events (subject to change)

Friday night, August 5
Check-in for campers begins Friday afternoon. Check-in will be at the Baylor Park office. After your checked in and set up, stop by the observatory where we will be starting the weekend with a Star Party beginning at 7:00pm. We will begin with solar viewing and daytime planets Mercury, Venus & Saturn.

7:00 – Gary A. Davis: U of M Professor
Topic: "Practical Astronomy" - Practical Astronomers in the Minnesota Wilderness, David Thompson and Joseph Nicollet.

8:00 – Dave Falkner: MAS President
Topic: “Giants of Astronomy” - How the Giants of Astronomy, Copernicus, Tycho, Kepler, Galileo, changed our view of the Universe.

Saturday, August 6
12:00 Noon – Observatory Opens
The observatory will open by noon on Saturday for daytime viewing of the sun & planets (if clear).

2:00 – Merle Hiltner
Topic: Observatory Tour and Making a “Star Wheel” for the kids.

3:00 – Roxanne Kuerschner
Topic: "Fascinating Facts" - Crazy and unbelievable facts about some of the items we see in the sky.

4:00 – Jake Hairrell
Topic: "How Big is Big?" - Gain perspective from our Solar System to Galactic and Universal distances.

5:30 – MAS B-SIG Cookout & Picnic / Supper break
Beginner Special Interest Group (B-SIG) will be hosting a potluck cookout for registered campers and MAS members. If you can, bring chips, a salad, a dish or a dessert and join the feast.

7:00 – Ron Schmit
Topic: "Backpack Astronomy" - How to explore the night sky while camping"

8:00 – Door prize drawing on the Onan Observatory Plaza (MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN)

8:30 – Raffle prize drawing on the Onan Observatory Plaza.
Grand Prize: 8” Orion Dobsonian Telescope, other prizes include Celestron Skymaster Binoculars, Astronomy Books, DVD’s

10:00 – Ron Schmit:
Live Constellation Tour

Sunday, August 7
8:00am – ''Continental Breakfast'' - Morning coffee & donuts (Juice for the kids)
Celebrate the day of the Sun with views through the solar observing telescopes and binoculars at Onan. The observatory will be open throughout the morning and early afternoon. Activities conclude at 2:00pm

The schedule is still being finalized at this time -- check back often for updates!

Camping with the Stars is presented by...