The 5th annual Night Sky Festival arrives this weekend, so get ready to look to the stars for that cosmic thrill. Reporter Heather Clisby has the details…
Sky’s The Limit Observatory and Nature Center will host its fifth annual Night Sky Festival on Saturday, September 21, with an evening star party featuring knowledgeable astronomers, telescope viewing, live music and storytelling.
Daytime activities on September 21 include youth crafts and astronomy lectures with notable speakers, such as Keri Bean, Systems Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who will present “The Exploration of Mars—Past, Present, and Future.” NPS Biologist Ashley Pipkin will discuss “Night Skies and the National Park Service,” and Dean Regas, Astronomer for the Cincinnati Observatory, with give a “Tour of the Universe: You Are Here.”
The festival also includes a special night sky photography workshop on Friday, September 20.
Tickets for the Saturday night star party and the photography workshop can be purchased on the event’s website, NightSkyFestival.org. Admission is by pre-paid tickets only; no tickets sales at the door. Festival tickets include shuttle service from the Community Services Building in Luckie Park in Twentynine Palms, to the Sky’s The Limit site. A limited number of VIP parking passes can be purchased for on-site parking, and handicap-accessible transportation to the site will be available.
Sky’s The Limit Observatory and Nature Center is located next to the Joshua Tree National Park’s north entrance in Twentynine Palms. For more info, visit: www.NightSkyFestival.org.
