Our first star party of the season will feature our planetary sibling, Venus. This planet is similar in size to Earth, but is very different on the surface and holds several mysteries we are yet to solve! From our skies, it is the brightest object after the Sun and the Moon. Join us for an evening of Veneran delight and for views through our telescopes of the closest planet to us. 

As with all our star parties, if the skies are cloudy we will meet in the Spicer House for a presentation instead. 

The handle of the Big Dipper makes an arc - you follow that arc to Arcturus, the brightest star in our northern summer skies! 

Come learn about this 37 light-year stellar neighbor, and join us in looking through telescopes at various other objects in the night sky. 

Earth is bombarded by rocks from space all the time! The majority of these meteors burn up in the atmosphere, and for those that manage to make it through, they often land in the oceans. Still, our planet is no stranger to mega impacts that have altered its biology and geology throughout the course of time. 

Join us for a night on killer asteroids and learn about the events that caused mega extinctions. How frequent do these happen, and is the next one overdue? 

Humanity always reached for the stars, but it wasn't until the 1950's that we managed to go beyond the atmosphere of our planet and venture into the vastness of space. 

Join us at Heritage Park for a summer evening filled with space themed activities that will include a model rocket launch!

With up to 50 meteors per hour, the Perseids are among the most active meteor showers. While best viewed in the late hours of the night, join us at Heritage Park's sled hill for a chance to spot a few of these "shooting stars". These specks of dust are remnants of a comet called 109P/Swift-Tuttle, and they move as fast as 60 miles per second! 

In the event it is cloudy on Tuesday night, we will have a back up viewing the following night, Wednesday August 12. 

The evening will be accompanied with some space-themed music by the Dangling Ganglion. 

With about a week away from its full phase, the Harvest Moon is the perfect reminder of the many joys the fall season brings! 

Throughout many civilizations, the Moon was always a mystical entity that found its way into mythology and romance. Today, it hangs up there in the sky reminding us that there's a place near home that longs for us to revisit. 

Before we reached the final frontier, Mars was only studied using telescopes from Earth. On November 28, 1964, humanity was sent the first close up images of Mars from a probe that flew by it called Mariner 4. Since then, humans have had close to 60 missions to Mars, 26 of which have been successful. This makes Mars one of the most explored planetary bodies in our solar system. 

From Viking 1, the first martian lander, to Mars Insight, the most current mission, these robotic machines have made Mars their home and their numbers are growing! Come learn about these missions and more as we spend the night talking about the red planet and viewing its orange haze through our telescopes. 

They are mysterious, massive, and magnificent. Black holes have always captivated astronomers and have always found their way into sci-fi movies. Just recently (April 2019) have we been able to capture the first image of a black hole! 

Come learn about these gravitational monsters and explore why they are present in our universe and what their significance is. 

6:15 pm: Refreshments (cookies, hot chocolate)

6:30 pm to 7:30 pm: Presentation

7:30 pm to 8:00 pm: Telescopes (if clear)

Location: Spicer House