by Sherrie Petersen
M33, The Triangulum Galaxy, can be seen with the naked eye under exceptionally good conditions.
Photo by Paul Winn (www.astrolights.net)
Take a walk outside after the sun goes down in almost any Santa Ynez Valley location and you’ll see something not visible in typical urban settings: The stars, millions of them shining brightly. You can see the Milky Way arching overhead, and during the summer months you will be entertained by meteor showers, which send so-called shooting stars flashing across the sky. Although light pollution is somewhat of a problem in the Valley’s towns and cities, we are still fortunate to have plenty of rural roads, Cachuma Lake County Park and the Los Padres National Forest area where the dark skies are lit only by stars and the moon. That is once you turn off your headlights and flashlights, of course, and let your eyes get used to the dark. You can bring a fold-up lawn chair or simply put a blanket across the hood of your car, some pillows on the windshield, then lay back and enjoy the celestial show.
With 2009 being the International Year of Astronomy, events are planned around the globe to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s use of a telescope. But local amateur astronomers don’t wait for a celebration to enjoy driving out to areas like Foxen Canyon Road and Santa Rosa Road to get unfiltered celestial views.
“We’re having Astronomy Nights at Cachuma Lake Campgrounds with a slide show at the Fireside Theater followed by telescopes at Dakota Plains,” McPartlin said of one such program. (See sidebar for exact dates and times.) Some of our staff recently attended one of these evenings at Cachuma Lake and found it fascinating. The amateur volunteer astronomers were very helpful and informative, and their telescopes awesome.
The Orion Nebula–photo taken by
astrophotographer Paul Winn at Cachuma Lake
“The fact is you can see Andromeda with your naked eye,” says Sedgwick Docent Dennis Nord. “The telescope extends what you can see and it brings in more light. It can hold an image by tracking it so it continues to add light over a period of time to make a clear picture.”
If you have your own telescope, McPartlin has some recommendations for nighttime viewing this summer. “Through late June, we’ll have Saturn, which is always spectacular. The rings are edge-on right now, so they look like a line through the planet,” he says. “By late July, Jupiter will start to come up in the southeast at reasonable hours. Jupiter’s atmospheric cloud bands make it look like a double cheeseburger in space through a telescope. It has 63 known moons, and even binoculars will show the four largest.” There’s also a lot you can see with your bare eyes–you just have to look.
So if you’re wondering what to do one evening while you are in the Santa Ynez Valley, try stargazing. The skies around here can provide you with fabulous astronomical adventures. You just have to look up.
Cachuma Lake Astronomy nights begin at 8 PM. Presentations are free, but you must pay the entrance fee for the park.
Friday, July 10,
Saturday, July 18
Saturday, August 1
Saturday, August 15
Saturday, September 5
Friday, September 11
The Astronomical Unit also brings telescopes to Refugio Sttate Beach, Carpinteria State Beach, and Lopez Lake. For dates and times, check their website: http://www.sbau.org
Another active astronomy group is the Vandenberg Amateur Astronomical Association. You can find out more about their activities by visiting: http://mysite.verizon.net/vaastronomy.