Welcome to The Southern Skies Star Party
Experience A Taste of the Bolivian Adventure
Held annualy on the shores of beautiful Lake Titicaca, near La Paz, Bolivia, the SSSP is now preparing for it's fifth year! Cruise our site to see the incredible experience that has 'hooked' so many visitors to these glorious southern skies. One-time Astronomical League President, Ken Willcox founded the tour in 1996 after experiencing this country's unequaled observing conditions on the 1994 Total Solar Eclipse Expedition.
• The Southern Skies Star Party makes it's home for a week at the Inca Utama Resort Hotel, which is located near the small town of Huatajata, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, 78 miles north of La Paz, Bolivia. The observing site and hotel are at an elevation of 12,500 feet above sea level, almost as high as Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii.
South 16° 12â 53.7"
West 068° 40â 59.1"
• SSSP is held during the dry Bolivian winter and that almost guarantees clear, transparent skies during the 10+ hours of darkness. Nightime temperatures generally range in the 30F-40F degree range with low humidity. Daytime temperatures easily top the 60F degree mark and make sightseeing very pleasant.
• Observers can expect to have the use of two wonderful telescopes that are a permanent resident of the hotel. A 14' x 40' roll-off-roof observatory at the Hotel was built by the resort and contains a 10" f/5.6 StarMaster Dobsonian telescope and soon will host the new 22" f 4.1 Starmaster. These telescopes are available each evening for everybody's use and enjoyment.
• Not only does the SSSP offer a great site for photographing and observing the southern skies, but a wide variety of day trips are offered for your enjoyment.
