Open to Ideas

[buffalodavid]

I hope no one thinks of this as spam, I left out names of bussiness, just for that reason.

I work in an upscale gift shop at a resort hotel in southern Utah, just outside Bryce Canyon, a place known for its dark sky.

My boss is seriously considering putting together a nightly star party (weather permitting). If I can come up with lots of input about how this could be run, I could be given a managerial position.

A chance to make money talking about the stars!

I have the idea of transporting our guest (via a red head light tram) to a spot away from the resort. There we might have a concrete slab where scopes are set up. Each night we would be able to supply our guest with things to look for, by way of heavens-above.com and Night Sky and other sources.

I'm asking, if you went to a resort hotel that offered this, what would you like to see? Any idea will be gratefully accepted.

[randb]

I hope no one thinks of this as spam, I left out names of bussiness, just for that reason.

I work in an upscale gift shop at a resort hotel in southern Utah, just outside Bryce Canyon, a place known for its dark sky.

My boss is seriously considering putting together a nightly star party (weather permitting). If I can come up with lots of input about how this could be run, I could be given a managerial position.

A chance to make money talking about the stars!

I have the idea of transporting our guest (via a red head light tram) to a spot away from the resort. There we might have a concrete slab where scopes are set up. Each night we would be able to supply our guest with things to look for, by way of heavens-above.com and Night Sky and other sources.

I'm asking, if you went to a resort hotel that offered this, what would you like to see? Any idea will be gratefully accepted.

Planets (Saturn mainly...Atleast most people ....would be amazed after looking at it for the first time...)...I personally prefer DSOs (galaxies, nebulae etc)...

[antoniseb]

if you went to a resort hotel that offered this, what would you like to see? Any idea will be gratefully accepted.

Let's imagine that I'm someone who spent a few thousand dollars so my family could spend a week near Bryce Canyon, and I had a curiosity about astronomy. I think that the things you might want to provide would be some pretty wide stuff. One thing that I've never tried, but would like to, is the big reflector binoculars (20+ inch mirrors).

People like seeing the distributed sources, like comets, planets, planetaries, star forming regions, galaxies, and any sweep across the Milky Way. Having a few of these binoculars with computer navigation would be really excellent.

[Dragon Star]

I'm asking, if you went to a resort hotel that offered this, what would you like to see? Any idea will be gratefully accepted.

Umm..no offense, but your asking people that are on a astronomy based forum, the response is going to be a bit bias. I do think it is a good idea,just a idea: while promoting new guest about this, show them some images they are likely to see to impress anyone who doesn't know about astronomy at all. The problem is many people don't even know what a nebula is, so exposing them to some pretty shots may spark some interest, just like antoniseb said, get a few that are computer guided and things should go pretty well I would think.

[buffalodavid]

I've heard that when John Deere has a new tractor to test out, they use lawyers and sales clerks because farmers might not see a flaw as a flaw. (this might be urban legend, but it is a valid point).

But I think asking farmers is still a good idea.

[Sam5]

I hope no one thinks of this as spam, I left out names of bussiness, just for that reason.

I work in an upscale gift shop at a resort hotel in southern Utah, just outside Bryce Canyon, a place known for its dark sky.

Yo, dark skies neighbor. I’ve always wanted to go to a resort out here that has a large telescope (8-16 inches or more) with a low-light level video camera on it, so us visitors can see the objects via a big TV screen. I don’t know if that would be possible in your remote spot, if you don’t have electricity.

They have a big telescope program at Chaco Canyon. You might call over there to see what their set-up is like:

http://www.nps.gov/chcu/nightskyprogram.htm

[The Supreme Canuck]

My one suggestion is to stay away from looking at stars. While interesting (and beautiful, in my opinion) they just don't have the same "pop" that planets and nebulae do.

[Sam5]

I've heard that when John Deere has a new tractor to test out, they use lawyers and sales clerks because farmers might not see a flaw as a flaw. (this might be urban legend, but it is a valid point).

But I think asking farmers is still a good idea.

Dragon Star is right. Just a good close-up view of the moon or M-31 might be enough for average campers who don’t know anything about astronomy and who have never looked through a telescope.

However, over at Mesa Verde, the National Park Service uses local citizens to give guest lectures to tourists. You might be able to find a telescope club in your area that might be willing to help out with your project. Maybe they would drive from as far away as Las Vegas to help you get the project going.

When I first read about the new telescope at Chaco in my local newspaper in the late 1990s, they only had a 16 inch telescope and no dome. Now they’ve expanded. I think this would be a good project for many federal and state parks, especially in the Southwest where we have the clearest and brightest skies in the US.

The first time I camped at Chaco, I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the restroom. I looked outside my camper window and I wondered what the bright light was that lit up the campground. I opened the door and I discovered that it was starlight. No moon, no artificial light, just brilliant starlight.

http://www.nps.gov/chcu/images.htm

[LurchGS]

Planets, Nebulae, galaxies, etc. I'd suggest that using TV stuff would be .. well, maybe for the cheap seats. Keep it limited to something like a novice "Intro to the solar system" or something. Out at "the Site", I'd <ahem> focus on the slightly more esoteric stuff mentioned above.

The hard part would be finding out just how to conduct the 'show' - pitch it to the guys with the permanent ring around the eye, or to the casual astronomer who at least knows which end of the telescope the bullet comes out of?

How many scopes would you have stationed there? how big would the 'tour' be (how many people per tour)?

my thought, as Joe Consumer, would be that I'd like to have a choice on any given trip. Of course, it would be cool to have special weeks - comet shows, meteor showers...The odd eclipse...
One thing to consider - you mentioned 'red headlights'. You'd have to be sure you don't travel on public roads - federal law would get you into deep kimchee with read headlights.

[Big Brother Dunk]

The moon is always a big crowd pleaser. Every time I show someone the mountains and craters on the moon, they're always impressed.

Also, satellites are interesting objects, especially iridium flares and the ISS.

[Big Brother Dunk]

By the way, I hope this flies for you. Good luck!