Free Event
Join Libby (Wilkinson) Strong and Robert Strong of the SMART-Center in Wheeling, WV and Fred Hunter, an amateur astronomer from Glen Dale, WV on Saturday, October 29th, 2022 from 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm at Grant County’s Mt. Storm Park for a public StarWatch event for the Grant County Dark Skies Project. The Grant County Dark Skies Project will focus on the inherent natural beauty of the dark sky of Grant County with the aim of promoting Dark Sky Awareness and Dark Sky Tourism.
If the skies are cloudy or there is inclement weather on October 29th, 2022, StarWatch attendees will enjoy several interactive and family friendly astronomy activities. There will also be astronomy related discussions based on current astronomy events and your astronomy related questions.
At this Dark Sky StarWatch event from 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm, we will view Earth’s Moon at 24% phase 15° above the horizon at 7:30 in the left-hand lane of the Milky Way. Earth shine will be visible. The moon will be perfect to take cell phone pictures through the telescope eye pieces. The moon sets at 9:35 p.m. and viewers can then observe darkening sky after moon set.
To the right of the moon not far away is the lagoon Nebula M8. About the same distance as the lagoon nebula straight up at 8:00 PM is a globular cluster M22. M22 is the third brightest globular cluster in the sky partially obscured by interstellar dust larger than the better known M13. It has over half a million stars!
The Pleiades star cluster or M45 rises in the east north east about 7 PM. Look at the Pleiades star cluster by 9 PM when it is 20° above the horizon.
Saturn is found due south at 8:00 PM at an altitude of 34.5 degrees with its largest moon, Titan, upper right of Saturn in line. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot - super-storm of Jupiter- is in center from left to right at 7:40 PM in upper dark band and will rotate out of view at 9:40 PM. All four planetary sized moons of Jupiter will be visible.
We invite all persons with telescopes to bring their telescopes to the StarWatch event. Other telescopes will also be available for viewing. Come celebrate the night sky!
The Grant County Dark Skies Project is a joint effort between the Near Earth Object Foundation, Wheeling’s SMART-Center, and a generous grant from NASA’s West Virginia Space Grant Consortium, grant #80NSSC20M0055. The Grant County CVB, City of Petersburg, Grant County Chamber of Commerce, Grant County Development Authority, Grant County Schools, and Grant County Parks and Recreation are also partners in this project.