Dark Skies

Join us at the Heide Observatory for Dark Skies, an interactive evening focused on understanding light pollution and its effects on the night sky, wildlife, and our communities. Through a series of hands-on stations, guests will explore how artificial light alters natural darkness, learn why dark skies matter, and discover practical ways individuals and communities can reduce light pollution. The event is designed for a wide range of ages and learning styles, combining guided activities with open discussion and real-world examples. Weather permitting, telescopes will also be available for viewing spring deep-sky objects, allowing guests to directly experience the difference dark skies make when observing the universe. This event uses a donation-based ticket reservation system to help support observatory programming; each donation reserves one ticket per transaction through Eventbrite. If you are attending as a group or family, please complete your donation and then email observatory@hawthornhollow.org with the total number of people in your group so we can plan appropriate staffing and volunteer support for the evening.