Photo: Observatory Park by Jeffery Fannin
Among offerings: Shakespeare, summer camps & Perseid meteor shower!
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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, Astronomy Naturalist (“Astro-Nat”) Chris Mentrek is eager to show you around this International Dark Sky Park.
Park buildings will now be open only the second and fourth weekends of the month: Friday and Saturday for self-guided night sky viewing with Park District telescopes from 6 to 11 p.m., as well as Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., including The Sky Tonight Planetarium Show about “what’s up” in the sky at 2 p.m.
More structured programming is also available for visitors of all ages and interest groups.
August is an exciting month for its Perseid Meteor Shower, and this year’s event falls on the night of Tuesday, August 12, to Wednesday, August 13, with best viewing from 1 to 3 a.m. Though there will be no formal program, a naturalist and other astronomers will be on hand to answer all your questions if you’d like to find a good viewing spot and bring warm clothes, a reclining lawn chair, blankets, bug spray and a warm drink like coffee or hot chocolate. This is definitely one of Nature’s Not-to-Be-Missed programs!
Biweekly Friday programs include:
- Shakespeare in the Sky on July 11 and 25 from 7 to 8 p.m.
- Earthquakes in Ohio on August 8 and 22 from 7 to 8 p.m.
- Spectroscopy: Using Rainbows to Study the Universe (where you’ll build your own “MacGyver-style” spectrometer for future exploration) on September 12 and 26 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Hour-long programs to study the season’s full moons are scheduled for:
- Saturday, July 12, at 8:30 p.m. (The Thunder Moon)
- Sunday, August 10, at 8 p.m. (The Sturgeon Moon)
- Monday, September 8, at 7:30 p.m.
X-TREME Days
And finally, teens entering grades 8 through 10 have a special option to explore Observatory Park this summer: X-TREME Days, part of Geauga Park District’s summer camp programming!
The Air and Space Challenge
Tuesday, July 1
Astronomy Challenge
Wednesday, July 2, both 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Camps are filling past, so learn more today .
With the exception of camps, all Observatory Park programs this season are free to attend without registration and wheelchair/stroller accessible. For details on these and other parks’ programming this winter, visit the and click Find a Program.
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