This star party scheduled for Saturday, July 15, 2023, at Brower Observatory is canceled. The dense clouds forecast to start on Friday night are expected to block our skies at least until the beginning of next week.
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Saturday, July 15, 2023
341 Route 126, Whitefield, ME 04353
Google Maps Plus Code: 6C5Q+MVV Whitefield, Maine
8:15pm, Sunset; 9:00pm, Dusk; 10:00pm, Darkness
The sun sets late in summer, so star parties start late, too; but, the nights are warm, and the company could not be better, so long as you are there! Venus is a beautiful, thin crescent now, and is so bright that it should happily occupy us as we await deep sky observing after dark. Mars is near Venus, so we’ll see that, too.
CMAS’s recent discovery of Plus Codes for Google Maps assures finding Brower Observatory easily, on the first try. Google Plus Codes are electronic addresses for locations on Google Maps. They substitute for street addresses that sometimes result in errors, as has often been a problem with Brower Observatory. CMAS has placed a pin (a red, teardrop shaped marker) on Google Maps at the intersection of Route 126 and the access road to the observatory. Clicking the underlined address or Plus Code above will take you there, as will entering the Plus Code into Google Maps’ search box. Here is the full link:
Once you reach that page, click the blue “Directions” button along the left margin, and then proceed as usual, to find directions from your home to the location marked by the red pin. From there, follow the access road up the short, steep, paved part of the access road, through the woods on the gravel road, and past the house to the observatory.
