Sisters will celebrate National Astronomy Day

National Astronomy Day is Saturday, April 20 and Sisters is planning a celebration. The event will take place at the Sisters Park & Recreation District's (SPRD) Coffield Community Center and will be the collaborative effort of the Sisters Astronomy Club (SAC), SPRD, and the Sisters School District.

Representatives from the Pine Mountain Observatory and the Oregon Observatory at Sunriver, as well as an accomplished astrophotographer from right here in Central Oregon, have graciously accepted invitations to come share their knowledge of astronomy with all who attend.

Activities will include talks about various aspects of astronomy, star shows in the inflatable Star Lab, solar viewing with telescopes fitted with special filters, demonstrations showing the scale of our solar system, and tables where a wide variety of information about astronomy will be displayed.

Proceedings will kick off at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon with a presentation by Kent Fairfield of the Pine Mountain Observatory. At 2 p.m. attendees will hear from Glen Ray of the Oregon Observatory. Then at 3 p.m. Jim Wakefield will explain the techniques and equipment he uses to image the night sky. Finally, at 4 p.m. Jim Hammond of SAC will talk about eclipses.

Meanwhile, Sisters High School astronomy teacher Rima Givot will conduct Star Lab shows about every 45 minutes. Steve Huffman of SAC will demonstrate the relative size of our solar system two or three times during the course of the afternoon. Views through the solar telescopes can be had at any time, weather permitting.

Astronomy Day festivities will be capped off with a lunar star watch. A presentation about the moon will be given by Sisters High School astronomy students starting at 8:30 p.m. in SPRD's Coffield Center. Following the talk, folks are invited to view the moon, planets and other celestial objects through telescopes that will be set up on Sisters High School's soccer field.