Hey, look up! Explore the vast night sky at Grand Canyon’s Star Party. Here’s what to know
Visitors to Grand Canyon National Park will have an opportunity to see vivid views of countless stars, constellations and planets and learn about the night sky at the 32nd annual Star Party.
The Star Party is returning in person June 18-25, 2022, after having been online last year due to the pandemic. Activities sponsored by the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association and the Saguaro Astronomy Club of Phoenix will take place at both the South and North rims.
Star Party activities are included with the park admission fee, which is $35 per vehicle, good for seven days.
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Grand Canyon Star Party 2022: What to expect
The Star Party will take place on both rims over the course of eight days. Events include evening programming that begins at 8 p.m., constellation talks, telescope viewing with over 60 telescopes and photography workshops.
Telescope viewing at the South Rim begins at sunset behind the Visitor Center. The best viewing will be after 9 p.m. At the North Rim, telescopes will be set up on the porch of Grand Canyon Lodge every evening.
Dress warmly as temperatures drop quickly after sunset even during the summer. Telescopes will be taken down after 11 p.m.
More than 12,000 visitors are expected to participate during the eight days, according to Rader Lane, night sky park ranger at the Grand Canyon. Lane suggests that visitors bring red flashlights instead of white ones for a better after-dark experience.
Are you wondering why red light is helpful for human eyesight in the dark? The park service has an article about that: https://www.nps.gov/articles.
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Grand Canyon Star Party schedule
- June 18: Aaron Yazzie, a mechanical engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, talks about the latest Mars rover he helped build and the connections between Mars and the Navajo Nation.
- June 19: Learn about NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope with John Durning, deputy project manager of the James Webb Space Telescope Project at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
- June 20: Get a tour of the universe with Dean Regas, outreach astronomer at the Cincinnati Observatory and former co-host of PBS’s “Star Gazers.”
- June 21: Learn how the International Dark-Sky Association protects the night sky from light pollution with Ashley Wilson, the group’s director of conservation.
- June 22: Find out the role Flagstaff played in training astronauts to go to the moon in the 1960s and ’70s with Kevin Schindler, Lowell Observatory historian.
- June 23: Enjoy classical string music under the stars when the Dark Sky Quartet performs.
- June 24: David Koerner, emeritus professor at Northern Arizona University, will discuss life in the cosmos.
- June 25: Learn about the Southern Paiutes’ connection with the night sky with Autumn Gillard , Southern Paiute Astronomer at the Pipe Spring National Monument.
At the North Rim, constellation talks and other astronomy programs will be presented at 8 p.m. nightly in the Grand Canyon Lodge auditorium.
Find out more about all the activities at https://www.nps.gov/grca.
Grand Canyon’s International Dark Sky status
The recipe to see stars doesn’t just require a telescope and a dark sky. The Grand Canyon was specifically designated as an International Dark Sky Park in 2019 by the International Dark-Sky Association.
This designation is awarded in one of two ways: One, if a location is able to retrofit a certain percentage of lights to be dark-sky friendly; and two, if it demonstrates a commitment to education and outreach about the night sky. In Arizona, Kartchner Caverns State Park and Petrified Forest National Park are among the locations that have achieved dark-sky status.
At Grand Canyon, Lane said, 34% of the 5,000 lights in 2016 met the criteria to be dark sky friendly. Since then, over 1,500 light fixtures have been retrofitted to eliminate light pollution.
The process involved shielding the lights, using lower-wattage bulbs, adding timers to some lights and getting rid of some lights altogether.
“I can’t really think of any other place that has so much infrastructure while also maintaining such pristine natural darkness, especially within the South Rim of the Grand Canyon,” Lane said.
“That is to say, there (are) places in the country that are supremely dark, but they’re incredibly remote and they’re hard to get to. And then there (are) some places that have a lot of hotels and infrastructure and places that people can access, but that usually is accompanied by light pollution.”
shanti.lerner@gannett.com or you can also follow her on Twitter.