Dark Sky Festival

Cape Cod National Seashore welcomes back the Cape Cod Astronomical Society as cohost of our fourth annual Dark Sky Festival in the park!

This year’s theme, “Stories Under the Starlight” will explore the importance of dark skies in our National Seashore, while also showcasing what the night sky has meant to people over the years. This event will include an evening star party at the Marconi Beach Parking Lot. This will be our fourth night sky celebration with viewing opportunities facilitated by passionate physicists, astronomers, photographers, and rangers. Admission is free and open to the public.

This Dark Sky Festival is a great opportunity to learn about the night sky and is appropriate for all ages. On Friday and Saturday, there will be family-oriented activities at the Salt Pond Visitor Center exploring the scope of our galaxy, storytelling, and constellation crafts.

We will also be hosting a Star Party on Friday August 29^th, from 8:00pm to 10:00pm at the Marconi Beach Parking Lot in WELLFLEET, Mass. The members of the Cape Cod Astronomical Society will join rangers from the National Seashore to explore the night sky through telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, and with the naked eye.

In the event of inclement weather, a rain date of Saturday, August 30^th has been selected. Should the rain date be needed, please check the park’s website and social media pages.

IF YOU GO TO THE STAR PARTY: Dim your vehicle lights while entering the Marconi Beach Parking Lot. Follow signage and ranger instructions for parking spots. Bring a flashlight and meet a ranger at the orientation table to receive red cellophane to protect participants night vision.

This free event is made possible by the support of the Cape Cod Astronomical Society.

Friday, August 29th at Salt Pond Visitor Center

1 pm - The Chinese Planetary Space Program (Dr. James W. Head, III)

China has embarked on an ambitious and fast-paced robotic lunar and planetary exploration program, including the first lander and rover on the farside of the Moon, lunar sample return missions (Chang’e 5 samples recently being returned from the unexplored NW lunar nearside, and under analysis by the international scientific community), Chang’e 6, the first lunar farside sample return mission, rovers on the surface of Mars, and missions to many other destinations in the Solar System. Plans also call for Chinese astronauts to explore the Moon by the end of the decade. What is the scope, organization, significance and direction of the Chinese space program and how does it differ from that of the US and other countries?

2 pm - Amature Astronomy and Astrophotography (Dr. Frank Isik, MD, FACS)

Amateur astronomers around the world are capturing stunning images of the night sky and contributing valuable data to the scientific community. With the rise of affordable telescopes, sensitive digital cameras, and powerful image processing tools, amateur astrophotography has entered a golden age — allowing enthusiasts to document celestial events, track asteroids and comets, and reveal the beauty and structure of distant nebulae and galaxies. This program explores the techniques, tools, and passion that drive this art movement. What role do amateurs play in modern astronomy?

3 pm - What Is in the Sky Tonight? (Dr. James F. Lynch)

This event is called the Dark Sky Festival and celebrates the beauty of the night sky as seen away from light pollution. The star party part of that event will be held in a part of the seashore some two miles from highway lights, and the skies are appreciably darker there. But such locations are getting harder to find, and the first part of my talk will be about finding dark skies in an increasingly lit up world.

The second part of my talk will be about the current night sky over Cape Cod, which is what we will look at in the star party. There is lots to see, and I’d like to describe a few highlights.