A "starparty" is not a party in the usual sense. Rather, it is a gathering of people to observe the stars under dark skies, far away from the light-polluted cities.
Our starparties take place once a month near new moon, so that the moon light does not disturb the observations of faint objects. The observations usually take place in the Negev,a 3 hours drive from Tel Aviv.
The IAA rents a bus, so that people need not driveafter the night of observations, but people may come also by their own cars. The bus has also enough place for equipment. People bring their telescopes, small and big, sometimes up to 16 inch, binocles, or just join and observe the objects the others are aiming at. One of the main ideas of the starparties is sharing the joy of the observations. For those who are new in astronomy, a short introduction to the night sky is given.
Particularly nice are the starparties in summer, when the nights are mild and pleasant, and when the sky is very rich. Arrival is at about sunset, so that we can get our equipment settled still in daylight. When it becomes dark, the faint stars become apparent. When it is completely dark, the Milky Way becomes visible, in such an intensity and splendour that one could think that it is clouds. The sky is so rich that it is difficult to decide where to look at first. Anyone who knows only the poor urban skies will be overwhelmed.
In the summer, the evening sky shows the rest of the spring constellations in the west, Virgin and Coma Berenices with many galaxies. One of the highlights is to observe the globular cluster M13 in Hercules with a large telescope, 13-inch or bigger. The glittering of so many stars together is an incredible view. Even more interesting and beautiful is the area of Sagittarius, where the Milky Way is very dense and where magnificent gas nebulae are located - the Messier objects M8, M16, M17 and M20. Visitors
from abroad will appreciate that these objects reach much higher altitudes here in Israel, so that they are much better visible than at northern lattitudes.
In the course of the summer night half of the sky passes. Later at night the constellations of the late summer rise, towards the morning of the autumn and the first constellations of the winter. It is like in a planetarium - but much better. To spend a night in the desert with its special atmosphere and calmness, to see the constellations passing, is a very deep experience. It brings things of daily life into proportions and touches very elementary questions of our existence, our role in the cosmos, our meaning. The dark night sky in the desert is a life experience;
Such nights are the moments in life one remembers.
