This year’s Crystal Coast Star Party and celebration of International Dark Sky Week is set for this weekend on Harkers Island.
The Cape Lookout National Seashore, Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center and the Crystal Coast Stargazers are hosting the two-day event that includes stargazing, children’s activities and a special presentation by a NASA leader.
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The event is being offered at no charge but organizers ask those who plan to attend to register using the online form for planning purposes.
Cape Lookout National Seashore was certified as an International Dark Sky Park in December 2021 for “exceptional quality of the night skies of the park and the opportunities for astronomy-based experiences. Cape Lookout National Seashore is the first Atlantic coastal Dark Sky Place in the NPS to receive this certification,” according to the National Park Service.
As part of the star party programming, NASA’s Nagin Cox, mission lead on the Mars Perseverance Rover and the Curiosity Rover, will give a special talk starting at 4 p.m. Saturday titled, “Dare Mighty Things: Mars Rovers Paving the Way” in the museum’s education hall.
Cox graduated from Cornell University and was commissioned as an officer in the Air Force. She worked in F-16 Aircrew Training and received a master’s in Space Operations Systems Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. While captain, she served as an Orbital Analyst at NORAD/Space Command in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs.
Cox joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1993 has been a systems engineer and manager on multiple interplanetary robotic missions including NASA/JPL’s Galileo mission to Jupiter, the Mars Exploration Rover Missions and the Kepler telescope mission to search for Earth-like planets around other stars, according to the NASA website.
Other activities include public stargazing at the seashore’s visitor center on Harkers Island starting at 8:30 p.m. both Friday and Saturday. Crystal Coast Stargazers will have their telescopes set up for public stargazing and NASA Solar System Ambassadors are to be on-site.
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From 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, NC SciFest Kids’ Astronomy Activities with Cape Lookout Ranger Sabrina Godin will be held in the museum’s education hall, and NASA Solar System Ambassador Jimmy Fulks will be on hand for solar viewing at the seashore’s visitor center.
The starlight cruises to Cape Lookout Lighthouse scheduled for both nights are fully booked and the wait list is closed.
