by Chad Jocius | Jan 16, 2025 | Observatory, Observatory Events, One-Time
Monday, April 21, 9:00 pm – 11:00 pm
The Lyrids appear in Chinese writing dating back to roughly 690 BCE, making them one of the earliest meteor showers on record. On the night of April 21, the annual shower will reach its near peak for 2023. The meteor shower is a result of Earth passing through the tail of the comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. When our planet moves through this debris field, the space rocks burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, causing spectacular lights to streak across the night sky.
The Lyrids are one of the weaker annual meteor showers visible from Earth. On peak nights, they usually produce no more than 20 shooting stars per hour. The event is also unpredictable: On rare occasions, spectators are treated to incredible surges of up to 100 meteors per hour. For this reason, the Lyrids are worth checking out for diehard astronomy enthusiasts.
Come out to the Heide Observatory and enjoy a relaxing evening in our anti-gravity chairs as we point out the night-sky objects and watch for meteors.
This event is weather-dependent and will be canceled or rescheduled by e-mail 24 hours before the scheduled start time in the event of a cloud cover forecast greater than 30%. Reservations can be transferred for any other nightly observatory event.
Dress appropriately for being still in nighttime outdoor weather.
Questions? Feel free to contact us at observatory@hawthornhollow.org
Get your Tickets Here!
If the email used to purchase tickets is different from your regular email, please check that email or contact me at the address below.
by William Parker | Jan 16, 2025 | Observatory, Observatory Events, One-Time
Saturday, March 29, 8:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Are you new to astronomy and looking for a challenge? Been around the sun a few times and are ready to up your stargazing street cred? There’s no better way than to try and run a Messier Marathon.
The Messier objects are a collection of deep space objects catalogued by French astronomer Charles Messier in his Catalogue des Nébuleuses et des Amas d’Étoiles (“Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters”), originally published in 1771. The Messier objects themselves vary: in the catalog, you’ll find galaxies in a variety of forms, different kinds of nebulas, open star clusters, and globular star clusters. There are also a few unique objects: one supernova remnant (M1), one-star cloud (M24, our own galaxy), and one double star (M40).
In a Messier Marathon, you try and see all 110 Messier objects in a single night. Like a physical marathon, it takes planning and pacing to quickly move through over 100 deep space objects in a single night.
Whatever draws you to learn more about the Messier Marathon, you’re not alone. Every year, hundreds of astronomers undertake the challenge and head on out to the Schoolyard Observatory for some or all of the Messier Marathon where we will be attempting to discover all possible Messier objects with a number of telescopes and other amazing information on each object. Reservations are donation-based to help promote our fundraising efforts.
Please reserve and donate today.
In case of poor weather conditions this event will be held indoors at the Nature Center where we will be presenting high definition pictures / videos giving full descriptions and back grounds of the messier objects and how they came to be. We will contact you 24 hours prior to the event to confirm start times and weather conditions.
Reserve tickets here or feel free to email observatory@hawthornhollow.org
If the email used to purchase tickets is different from your regular email, please check that email or contact me at the address below.
