Stargazing

Check out the night skies in Newport News with free stargazing tonight, June 26 beginning at sunset. My family went last month and we were amazed. Chris Hendricks, a member of Virginia Peninsula Astronomy and Stargazers, sets up his telescope for anyone to look through. We saw Saturn, rings and all. He does so every second and fourth Friday evening at Riverview Farm Park in Newport News. Chris said his telescope is able to view objects within a few million light years away. "To put that into perspective, I wouldn't be able to view a quasar (quasi-stellar radio source (quasar) is a powerfully energetic and distant galaxy with an active galactic nucleus) that is over 100,000,000 light years away. I would only be able to view something like the Virgo Cluster located in the constellation Virgo a little further than 50,000,000 light years away and even then I can still only view some of the galaxies in the cluster," Chris said. The group also offers other times and locations to view the night sky this way. The only time they will not hold the event is if it is overcast or raining/thunderstorms. See the listings below. Grundland Astronomy Park (GAP) in the Fox Hill area of Hampton every 1st and 3rd Fridays. Riverview Farm Park (RFP) every 2nd and 4th Friday. York River State Park (YRSP) usually on the 3rd Saturday of the month. Sandy Bottom Nature Park I think every 2nd and 3rd Fridays but I’m not sure if Bird does it during the summer. Jones Magnet Middle School Planetarium 2nd Wednesday of the month. Virginia Living Museum Star Party 2nd Friday of the month