Update 3/16:
We really wanted to get our public observation at Pilot Mountain tomorrow night because of all the other bad luck we’ve had this past year, but I’m afraid it’s not going to work. Clouds are rolling in tomorrow, along with the possibility of rain. So this event is cancelled.
But wait, don’t give up yet. There are four total observation opportunities next month as part of the annual North Carolina Science Festival (which occurs throughout the month of April), we have arranged for another attempted public observation at Pilot Mountain on Saturday, April 7 along with three other observations. The other venues include Yadkinville Municipal Park, Stone Mountain State Park and our home base, Kaleideum North So, watch for posts for each of those in the upcoming weeks. As usual, keep your fingers crossed for clear skies!
Update 3/9:
Alas, the weather forecast has been consistently bad for our public observation at Pilot Mountain tomorrow night: clouds and rain are expected. So we will postpone this event for now. We do have a rain date scheduled for next Saturday, March 17, so look for another weather update next Friday.
The Forsyth Astronomical Society will be hosting a public observation on Saturday March 10th in the upper knob overlook parking area of Pilot Mountain State Park. This is one our premier public observation sites due to its darker skies. We will be able to show you more dark sky objects at this location than any public event site we use. Sunset is around 6:30 pm. With no planets, other than Venus and Mercury early in the evening, this event will be a dark sky object showcase of star clusters, nebulae and galaxies, given adequate sky conditions. New objects will be rising as the night progresses . If you make your rounds and see “all there is to see”, give it an hour or so and we can show you more. We will continue with the observation until 10 pm.
Forecasts as of this post aren’t looking especially good and have the lows in the mid 30’s and raining. In the event the weather does break being atop the mountain the temps can be as much as 10 degrees cooler, possibly more if the wind is blowing, so please dress appropriately, especially the little ones. This event is a weather dependent event so stay tuned to this post or the club’s Facebook page for a final weather call the Friday before the event. You can also call Kaleideum North after 5 pm on Friday for the weather call via their automated voice message system. In the event of inclement weather there is a rain date of March 17th. We hope to see you all there.
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