Meteor shower season at Sugarloaf Ridge

Telescopes won't help spot shooting stars|

There was a full moon earlier this week, which was good news for witches, werewolves and lovers, not so good for star-gazers.

As it happens this week is also the peak of the annual Delta Aquarids meteor shower, which can bring down up to 20 visible meteorites an hour in a good year. Astronomers expect the shower to peak toward the first part of next week.

The skies are also ramping up for the more celebrated Perseids, which peak in mid-August. If you’re seeing lots of stars falling out of the nighttime skies this time of year, the ones coming from the north – in the vicinity of the constellation Perseus – are the Perseids, while those dropping out of southern skies where Aquarius the water-bearer is reigning are the Delta Aquarids. If you’re seeing stars falling from all around you, check your campfire for sparks.

Although a telescope is a poor device to witness a meteor shower, the Robert Ferguson Observatory will be open late next weekend, Saturday, July 30, for its sorta-monthly Star Party. By then the moon will be well off full (the New Moon will be Aug. 2) while there still may be some action in the skies from the seasonal meteor showers.

As usual, the day’s Solar Viewing begins at 11 a.m. and goes to 2 p.m., with telescopes set up so you can safely observe the closes star, the sun. The observatory is open to the public with no added charge in the afternoon; parking at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park is $8 per car.

The Star Party generally starts about 8 p.m., when the summer skies darken enough for rewarding viewing, and continue until the last enthusiast decides to call it a night. As well as the Observatory’s three main telescopes open for viewing, docents set up additional telescopes in front of the building.

Presentations on astronomical topics are given in the classroom throughout the course of the evening. Star Party fee is $3 per adult 18 and older, plus parking.

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