Then around 10 p.m., I flipped off the projector, pulled out a green laser pointer, and painted a resounding “Whoa!” From the audience as she points the instrument’s green line of light on the stars that make up the figures of the bear (Ursa Major and Minor), the teapot (Sagittarius), and the swan (Cygnus).
As the occasional cloud obscured the stars, Goodman harnessed the crowd’s energy to clear the skies: “I want this cloud to go away, so everyone explodes!”
Just as the visitors raised their necks to Cygnus as it flew across the Milky Way, a shooting star streaked across the sky, to the right of its green laser beam…and the audience simultaneously exploded with startled joy: “Oh!!!”
The huge crowd gathered in the amphitheater there was for the Stars Gala on the first night of Shenandoah National Park Night Sky Festival. Park officials expect about 2,000 people to come this weekend for the event, which was launched in 2015 and is held annually during the Perseid meteor shower. This year’s festival – the first full event since 2019 after the pandemic halted – coincides with the peak of the Perseids.
The Perseids, which zip across the sky at 37 miles per second from mid-July to the end of August, were created by the dusty trails of debris left behind Comet Swift-TuttleIt orbits the sun every 133 years, says NASA, and last came across the solar system in 1992.
Comet debris heats up when met with friction from Earth’s atmosphere and lights up. The Perseids – named after the constellation Perseus, where the meteors appear to come from – are best seen in the Northern Hemisphere in the hours before dawn, although they may be possible to see them as early as 10 p.m.
The Night Sky Festival is celebrated at various locations in the park from Friday to Sunday, and is free with admission to the park. Events include talks by veteran astronauts, NASA and National Park experts as well as amateur astronomers on topics ranging from defending Earth from rogue asteroids to America’s largest known stars. crater effect under the Chesapeake Bay.
Ranger-led star parties take place every night, but the real parties start after 11pm when the parakeets are most visible. When the Perseids reaches its peak Saturday night, dozens to nearly 100 bright stars will appear per hour under dark, clear skies, according to NASA.
After Goodman’s talk Friday night, a group of cars left the runway and sped down Skyline Drive past deer grazing on the side of the road to mile 51, where skywatchers headed down a bumpy gravel road in Big Meadows and the sky could be seen from horizon to horizon. Couples, families, and groups of friends mounted their cameras on tripods and settled on blankets and lawn chairs for a night of group stargazing.
There were occasional grumbles when the newcomers joined in and accidentally turned on their light bulbs – momentarily blinding the others, who had to re-accustom their eyes to the darkness. But most people enjoyed the darkness and relaxation in starry bliss while listening to friendly chatter around them.
“This is the first time we’ve come to Big Meadows for a meteor shower. It’s very exciting,” said Claire Chen, 35, of Potomac, Maryland, who came with her husband, 5-year-old daughter, and friends. “I’ve seen a few things. Brilliant – about five or six, which is great.”
The sounds faded after midnight, as sleepy stargazers hung out at Big Meadows into the wee hours of Saturday morning, hoping to spot another shooting star. The Persians did not let them down.
Some of them appeared to be short lines on the edge of viewers’ peripheral vision. Others were much brighter – fireballs created by larger particles that left a trail of green in the sky.
Marco Heidecker, 33, who is from Germany but lives in Silver Spring, has taken up astrophotography as a hobby and has traveled to dark sky locations all over the world.
He focused on taking pictures, he missed seeing most of the night stars.
“I saw two,” he said, laughing. “I hope I recorded them with my camera.”
This was his third visit to Shenandoah, and his second at Big Meadows.
“This is a good place because it’s dark on the east coast,” he said. “It’s honestly one of the best dark skies near Washington.”
“Extreme travel lover. Bacon fanatic. Troublemaker. Introvert. Passionate music fanatic.”
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