June 2025 Star Party

Enjoy the late Spring constellations away from the bright lights of the towns and cities in our area! The night will be dark - perfect for star gazing. Bring your own telescopes and binoculars or use those provided by our members. A telescope is not required.

Leo will be visible early, with Ursa Major (which includes the Big Dipper) near zenith, and Hercules rising towards comfortable viewing levels by mid-evening. While Galaxy Season is ending, M101, a showcase galaxy, will be high in the northern sky, and readily visible in many of the party’s telescopes.

Telescope operators will arrive about 30 minutes early to set up. Observing begins about an hour after sunset and will probably end around 11, or whenever club members decide. All will take place at the park's West Beach parking lot.

You must RSVP with your car's make, model, and license plate number at least one day beforehand. This info is required by and sent to the State Park authorities because we are there after park hours. If you attend without being on the list and the police show up, the consequences can include revocation of our permit for after hours use.

If you have not been to one of our star parties before then please review our guide to star party etiquette.

A forecast of the viewing conditions can be found on the Astrospheric Sky Forecast. It shows various viewing conditions (cloud cover, transparency, darkness) as well as temperature, wind, etc. If you scroll down the page you'll find additional useful info such as sunset timing, position of the planets, and more.

Note: Late Spring viewing conditions can be very clear – and are usually pretty mild. However, since you will be standing around looking at the stars for a while, you may feel colder than you expect. Consider bringing a sweater or light jacket just in case.

For further information, text or call Tim Denman at 845-245-5483 or Jack Chastain at 845-430-6851.

Featured image credit: Steve Dittmar, MHAA member and Webmaster, has been learning astrophotography since 2014. Today he's also an instructor at the Adirondack Sky Center and Observatory's astrophotography workshop and teaches privately as well. He loves imaging deep sky objects and sharing views at our public star parties that make guests say, "Oh wow!".