Quad City group looks to the stars

Have scope, will travel…to the darkest parts of Iowa. Tonight the Quad Cities Astronomical Society holds a “Star Party” for fans with telescopes. Those who have them set up their telescopes to view different stars, galaxies and other targets, and if you don’t have one you just walk around and look at those set up for viewing — just a bunch of people, he says who like astronomy and the stars. Club president Gary Charnoski says the goal’s to find a stargazing site free from light pollution. He says there’s quite a bit of light around big cities, including the Quad Cities, so the club’s star parties are usually at least fifteen miles or so away. Tonight’s gathering is at Sherman State Park, a nice dark place far from many cities with a special treasure for the stargazers — the club has its own observatory building at the park that contains a 20-inch telescope and a roll-open roof, plus space around the building for others to set up their own telescopes. The club has a couple star parties each month, and a big annual 3-night event in September other clubs attend as well. A big statewide star party’s set for Labor Day weekend at the Garst Farm Resort in rural Guthrie County near Coon Rapids. For more info and registration surf to http://inskysd.org/iowa.php and for the Quad City Astronomical Society’s calendar of events see http://home.mchsi.com/~qcas/