Join us in celebrating the arrival of the Summer constellations, bright and overhead. The Milky Way will also be visible, stretching across the sky from the southern to northern horizon, passing through Sagittarius and neighboring constellations in the southern part of the sky. Also, the Perseid meteor shower is gearing up but won't peak until mid-August
The constellations best seen for this Star Party are:
Scorpius: This zodiac constellation will still be visible, featuring the red giant star Antares and its distinctive scorpion shape in the southern sky during the early part of the night.
Sagittarius: Continuing to be prominent, Sagittarius hosts the center of the Milky Way galaxy and the well-known Sagittarius "Teapot" asterism. It will be visible low in the southern sky.
Capricornus: Adjacent to Sagittarius, Capricornus, representing a sea-goat, will also be observable in the southern part of the sky.
Attendees will be able to observe our pristine night sky thru the lens of the Smokey Jack Observatory’s 14”, state of the art telescope. Additional telescopes will be setup around the Observatory for viewing and one of our trained Star Guides will be pointing out the brightest stars and constellations.
Free and open to the public. No reservations needed.
Depending on weather conditions, public events can be cancelled the day of the event. All cancellations will be made at least 2 hours before the event start time the day of the event and our voicemail greeting will be changed to announce the cancellation. In order to obtain cancellation details you can call our phone number, 719-398-1284. We will also try to update this event page and the Dark Skies of the Wet Mountain Valley Facebook page with cancellation details as well. However, the voicemail greeting is the primary source of up to date information.
As always, these events are free. However, as a non-profit, we rely exclusively on the generous contributions of our supporters. We do greatly appreciate your tax deductible donations!