City of Groveland’s 3rd Annual Star Party

Have you ever looked up into a clear night sky just to marvel at the beauty of the stars and planets? This simple, yet profound ability is slowly disappearing due to copious amounts of light pollution entering our atmosphere from the excessive use of artificial light in cities and residential areas. However, interest in the night sky and the mysteries of outer space continue to captivate the hearts and minds of many. This past weekend we were invited to attend the City of Groveland’s 3rd annual Star Party hosted by our friends at Cherrylake and many families, clubs and supporting organizations came out with blankets, games, and telescopes to educate participants about the vast cosmos surrounding us. 

Throughout the evening, we took star tours hosted by guest speakers from the Central Florida Astronomical Society and learned about Light Pollution from Dark Sky Central Florida. Many telescopes and monitors were set up along the perimeter and hundreds of guests lined up for a glance at Jupiter the Giant. Experts eagerly talked about common constellations and explained how to read patterns in the night sky. 

Our spiral-shaped Milky Way galaxy is home to around 100 billion stars and has a mass about 200 billion times the mass of the sun. We have 88 constellations in total that are visible at different times of the year at different parts of the globe. Studying the patterns in the sky is thought to be the oldest of the sciences and has helped humans understand more about planet Earth’s geography for thousands of years.