Worcester Township, in association with the Delaware Valley Amateur Astronomers, will host a public star party "picnic" at Heebner Park. This will be a distanced tour of the night sky, including identification of features of the moon and the craters where the astronauts landed, bright stars, planets and constellations using a laser pointer. There will also be short demonstrations on how to view the night sky with your own binoculars, and how to use some popular astronomy apps. Each family should bring a beach blanket or tarp and/or lawn chairs, which will be placed on the grass so that each family has their own space.
Masks are required.
Bring binoculars if you have them, and also a red flashlight if you have one. For mosquito protection, you might want to wear long pants & long sleeves, and bring a sweatshirt or jacket since astronomy on summer evenings can be unexpectedly cool. There is no food associated with this "picnic" -- we will be "feasting" on celestial delights!
Unlike other public DVAA star parties, this one will
not include telescopes, since eyepieces can't be sterilized between viewers. Consistent with Worcester Twp Covid-19 guidelines, the event will be limited to 40 registrants, and registration
before the event is essential. Since the event is dependent upon the weather, please watch your email on the day of the event for confirmation that the star party is a GO. Updates will also be posted at
www.dvaa.org.
The star party location is 3153 Heebner Road, Collegeville, PA,19426; coordinates 40.192849, -75.361243. Plan to arrive between 7:45 and 8pm. Please park with your headlights facing toward Valley Forge Road, so that if you need to leave unexpectedly during the star party your headlights will be facing away from the attendees.
The rain/cloud date is Friday, August 28th. You will be notified via email if the date must be changed.