Saturday, January 18, 2025, 5:30pm
The early sunsets of winter allow us to schedule star parties on nights that will be fully dark until a bright moon rises after hours of observing. With Orion high in the sky, this is an opportunity to see its pinks and blues in the 18-inch Big Dob with your own eyes, colors that smaller telescopes only show in photographs. We’ll have five hours until a not-quite-full Moon rises at 9:41pm. For those who want to catch a bite to eat before the star party, the former Lincolnville Center General Store is under new ownership as Owen’s General Store. The menu is similar to what it was before, with the excellent wood-fired pizza and a special every night. It currently closes at 5:00pm on winter weekend nights, so plan on eating before the star party, not after.
Double-check your Google Map directions when driving to Galaxy Quest. The old Vancycle Road was once one road stretching between two towns, but is now two separate roads, one in each town, that no longer connect. You MUST approach Galaxy Quest from the east in order to find it. On your computer or phone screen, you will be driving from the right toward the left when approaching Galaxy Quest.
You want Vancycle Road in Lincolnville, not Belmont. These are separate roads. You must turn onto Vancycle Road from ME-173/ME-52, “Belfast Road.” If you do not, then you will be on the wrong road in the wrong town. The landmark there is Ararat Farms Stand. On Vancycle Road, it is almost exactly half a mile from this intersection to the driveway on the left leading into Donkey Universe Farm, the home of Galaxy Quest Observatory.
If your Google Map directions show you entering Vancycle Road at the intersection of Vancycle, Halls Corner Road, and Tunk Woods Road in Belmont, fix them! The Vancycle Road at this intersection does not lead to Galaxy Quest.
