Home > Ephemeris Extra, Events, GTAS Outreach Event, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Star Party > Ephemeris Extra: Star Party Tomorrow night, 10/21/2023, if it’s clear

Ephemeris Extra: Star Party Tomorrow night, 10/21/2023, if it’s clear

October 20, 2023

Update: 10/21/2023 The Star Party has been canceled due to weather (clouds)

This was the last planned star party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes this year. Look for star parties in 2024. Also, there will be a star party after the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society meetings, November 3rd and December 1st, of course weather permitting, at Northwestern Michigan College’s Joseph H. Rogers Observatory. The observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley Road. Meetings start at 8 pm, and are not weather dependent, with observing after (approximately 9 pm) if it’s clear. Topic of the meeting programs: November: A documentary video Jack Newton’s Journey to the Stars. Jack Newton (1942-) is a Canadian amateur astronomer and pioneering astrophotographer. December: Ancient Greek astronomy.

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Sleeping Bear Dunes 40th anniversary cake lighting
Sleeping Bear Dunes 40th anniversary cake lighting on at the Stop 3, Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive (Dunes Overlook) October 21, 2010. This was the GTAS second star party with the park in the society’s over 13 year collaboration with the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I don’t know if there will be a cake this time, but all those candles are not conducive to keeping one’s night vision. We since had to move the star parties to the Dive Climb to accommodate the larger crowds that have built up since. Credit: Eileen Carlisle.

Members of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will team up with the park rangers of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for the last star party of the year celebrating the park’s 53rd anniversary. It will take place at the Dune Climb. Of course, it will only occur if it is clear or partly cloudy. It starts at 4 pm with solar observing using personal and the society’s solar telescopes. Starting at 7 pm it will be dark enough to view the first quarter Moon, followed a bit later with Saturn, and still later with Jupiter. The brighter wonders beyond the solar system will be also be visible later.

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