Wallowology 2021 Report

The 2021 Wallowology Astronomy Event was great fun and a big success. The Ida B. Wells students were gracious hosts and inspired guides to the night sky at beautiful Grace Prairie north of Enterprise, Oregon. There were about 50 guests including local Wallowa County residents, families who visit the Wallowas every summer, and first time visitors to this wonderful land. The age range was 6 to 80. There were some local students who made friends and exchanged phone numbers with the Ida B. Wells students. I love the mending of the rural/urban divide through astronomy! Most of the guest considered themselves beginning astronomers. Everyone saw many objects that they had never seen before, learned some fun facts, and was inspired to seek out dark skies and look up!

On night 2 we had a second star party, just for the leaders, also at Grace Prairie. The highlight in my mind was The Veil Nebula, a supernova remnant. The picture below is borrowed from the internet. Our view was not this dramatic, but it was pretty darn amazing. And it was REAL, not a photo. We were looking through a telescope that we had set-up, calibrated, and pointed ourselves.

On night 3 we had a star party in Joseph City Park. While the skies are not as dark as at Grace Prairie, it was fun and successful, at least until the automated sprinkler system came on. We were able to scramble and get the equipment to the middle of the basketball court with nothing damaged. Saturn came up above the trees around 11:30 pm with Jupiter about an hour later. These stole the show. Saturn's rings were stunning, even mesmerizing. We were able to view and identify all four of the Galilean Moons of Jupiter. Io was hiding in the great planet's glow at first, but later on it had orbited enough to be distinct.

As always, there were struggles. Part of authentic education is that things go wrong. Students need to be clever, creative, resilient, and persistent. As always, there were problems with equipment here and there. The students took these in stride and solved them. The larger problem was that just as the big public party on night 1 was beginning a giant cloud of smoke from wildfires in Idaho come rolling in. You could see the cloud approaching across the prairie. It was somewhat apocalyptic. The smoke greatly reduced sky quality, but as one of my students said, "The smoke made it easier to focus on the bright objects high in the sky. These are the objects the guests can see back home without a telescope." I do so love optimism, especially in youth!

It was not all astronomy though. The students rode horses, rode rail bikes (bicycles that go on old railroad lines), rode the tram to the top of Mt. Howard, swam in Wallowa Lake, and, my favorite, floated down the creek behind Amy and my property.

As for me, I have hardly slept in five days, but I could not be happier. I am already planning a bigger and better Wallowology Astronomy Event for Summer 2022. But right now, I think I need to float down that creek again!

Thanks to the incredibly wonderful folks at Wallowology. We could not have handled the logistics without Charla Lower. DJ Lincoln and his telescope is where you want to be at a star party. The extraordinary generosity of Paul Flanders to allow use of Grace Prairie is greatly appreciated.

My dream, well, one of my many dreams, is to take this show on the road. How I would love to have a bus full of teenagers and telescopes and show up in every little town in rural Oregon. Sort of like the circus or Chautauqua. Healing the world and the Earth through accessible, authentic, public astronomy. "We are star dust. We are golden. And we have got to get ourselves back to the garden." Thanks you, Joni!

If you are interested in this dream by hosting us in your little town, by funding this project, or in any other way, I'd love to hear from you. josephminato@gmail.com.