The forecast looks clear and promising for a celestial safari on Saturday, October 18th at Red River Beach with volunteer astronomer Michael Payne. This tour will begin with a brief talk on the history of the constellations including their cultural significance, some basic astronomy facts, and how to navigate the night sky using a sky map.

The stars we see in the early evening sky reflect the shift of seasons from summer to fall. The bright stars and constellations of summer are descending in the west as darkness falls, and the fainter, more subtle stars and constellations of autumn rise in the east to take their place.

The Milky Way will be visible as it stretches overhead across the entire sky, near its peak brightness. We will observe and identify the still visible summer constellations of Lyra, Aquila, and Cygnus, along with the bright summer stars Vega and Altair, and others. In the east and south-east, we will identify the autumn constellations of Pegasus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Perseus, Pisces, and others. We’ll also locate and identify Saturn, now visible in the southeast as darkness falls. Finally, we will learn to locate the Andromeda Galaxy, the light from which takes two and half million years to reach Earth.

Please bring binoculars and a flashlight if you have them. We’ll provide a sky map and red cellophane with elastics to cover your flashlight (this helps preserve night vision).