Southern Skies Star Party 1996

A year and a half after the total eclipse in Bolivia a small group of observers led by eclipse director Ken Willcox returned to the Andes for the first official Southern Skies Star Party. The first year started off with dusk to dawn clear skies and by mid-week the dark skies were becoming familiar to the group. The hotel staff had a hard time understanding that the group of astronomers actually wanted to walk around in the middle of the night in the dark. No matter how many times we turned off various lights, it seemed that it was one guys job to make sure the lights were on so guests would not accidentally fall in the lake! By week's end the battle was won and most of the lights stayed off all night long.
In the years to follow the staff has gone to great lengths to help keep the observing site dark. Recently even the small lights outside of the rooms were turned red before we arrived. Other guests of the hotel now get to dine by romantic candle light during the week, just so stray light will not ruin astro photos.
The slide show you are watching was complied from a weeks worth of images from the star party, the area around the hotel, La Paz and the Alto Plano. All photos (C)1996-2007 by Vic Winter.