Among offerings: Perseid meteors, Geauga W.O.R.K. Out & the Chardon Polka Band!
For casual visitors, Observatory Park is open daily 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. at 10610 Clay Street in Montville Township. For those wanting a more guided experience, however, Naturalist (“Astro-Nat”) Chris Mentrek is eager to show you around this International Dark Sky Park.
Park buildings are open the second and fourth Saturdays monthly for night sky viewing with Park District telescopes from 7 to 11 p.m., with safe sun viewing before it gets dark. Buildings are also open the following Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m., including The Sky Tonight Planetarium Show at 2 p.m. to tell you “what’s up” in the night sky.
More structured programming is also available for visitors of all ages and interest groups.
Friday, August 12, will be a huge night for Observatory Park this summer, with activities beginning at 7 p.m. and lasting all through the night!
First, the Geauga W.O.R.K. Out Celebration will celebrate Geauga County Public Library’s W.O.R.K. Out program with activities including a planetarium program, the Bookmobile, refreshments and a free concert by the Chardon Polka Band! Bring chairs or blankets to enjoy the show.
Then, at 9 p.m., take in the annual Perseid Meteor Shower during the Meteors and Moths Overnight Event – made extra special by night-flying moths attracted to black-light or mercury vapor lamps – with prime meteor viewing between 1 and 3 a.m.
Biweekly Friday programs this season are The Michelson-Morley Laser Experiment (featuring a chance to recreate an 1880s experiment that changed our view of the universe) on July 8 and 22 from 7 to 8 p.m.; Meet Henrietta Leavitt: Astronomy Pioneer (featuring a woman who discovered how to measure the size of the universe, played by Naturalist Nora Sindelar) on August 26 from 7 to 8 p.m.; and How the Stars Got Their Names (featuring some fascinating history) on September 9 and 23 from 7 to 8 p.m.
And finally, special programs to study the season’s full moons are scheduled for Tuesday, July 19, from 8 to 9:30 p.m. (The Thunder Moon); Thursday, August 18, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. (The Sturgeon Moon); and Friday, September 16, from 8 to 9 p.m. (The Harvest Moon).
All Observatory Park programs this season are free to attend without registration and wheelchair/stroller accessible. Learn more about Observatory Park at . And for details on these and other parks’ programming this summer, visit http://geaugaparkdistrict.org and click Find a Program.
Geauga Park District is online at www.geaugaparkdistrict.org, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
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Image Courtesy of: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giant_Magellan_Telescope_-_artist%27s_concept.jpg
