Heritage Starfest 2015: Celebrating the Dark Night Sky
Enjoy the dark skies of Wayne County and Capitol Reef National Park at the annual Heritage Starfest October 9-10.
The event kicks off with activities at Capitol Reef National Park on Friday October 9 including solar telescope viewing at the visitor center at 11AM and an astronomy program at the Ripple Rock Nature Center at 3:30PM. The Friday evening program will include guest speaker Kate Magargal and stargazing at the campground amphitheater beginning at 8:00PM.
On Saturday October 10, Kate Magargal will be speaking about the night skies of southern Utah at Robber’s Roost Bookstore in Torrey at 7:30PM. Afterward, visitors will enjoy night sky viewing from the grounds.
Between 9:30PM-midnight, night sky enthusiasts will gather at Gary Pankow’s house in Teasdale (S 2nd St E & E Rustle Street; 2 blocks east of the Post Office) for night sky viewing, socializing, and a citizen science project. Community members are invited to participate in the biannual Sky Quality monitoring event. People of all ages will be involved in measuring the brightness of the night sky using Sky Quality Meters. No experience necessary.
At 10PM, those wishing to participate in data collection will car pool to locations along the Teasdale-Torrey-Grover loop. After data gathering, the group will return to Gary Pankow’s home for a late night after party and star-gazing.
This fall festival and citizen scientist program is being sponsored by the Entrada Institute and Capitol Reef National Park.