On October 17th, I led a small group of Master Naturalists and some of their family members in a stargazing session at Starry Meadows, the property of Headwaters Master Naturalists Sharon and Jay Landis. This property lies north and west of Harrisonburg and enjoys relative freedom from light pollution.

After a day of perfectly clear skies, clouds rolled in just as we were about to begin. Fortunately, there was partial clearing soon thereafter, and the evening was not a loss. Even with thin cloud cover, Saturn shone brilliantly in the southeastern sky, viewed through a 4-inch refracting telescope. We located some double stars, various star clusters, and I was able to capture a surprisingly good image of the large but somewhat dim galaxy in the constellation Triangulum, Messier 33. Using a green laser pointer, I highlighted some of the more prominent constellations. Even with the sub-optimal conditions caused by the cloud cover, the dark sky at Starry Meadows remained an inspiring sight.

Although the night was not particularly cold, stargazing involves a good deal of standing still, and there were no objections when I suggested we wrap up a little after 9:00 p.m. I chose these dates intentionally to avoid moonlight, allowing us to better appreciate deep-sky objects. I am considering holding a session next spring focused on the Moon, highlighting lunar surface features, along with some visible planets at that time.

Zack Perdue

Group enjoying night sky. Photo by Andrea Dono.

M31 Andromeda Galaxy. Photo captured by Andrea Dono using the Unistellar app.

M13 Hercules Globular Cluster. Photo captured by Andrea Dono using the Unistellar app.