COUNTY News:

The Pajarito Astronomers Club is hosting County-sponsored “Dark Night” observing sessions through September at Overlook Park in White Rock.

These sessions are free and open to the public and occur once a month (on a Saturday evening near a new moon) when Los Alamos County turns off all the athletic field lights at the park.

A typical session will have 15-50 people looking through 4-6 telescopes, viewing galaxies, planets, star clusters, the moon and much more. Weather permitting, observing sessions start at sunset and end before midnight.

Visible will be planets, a variety of colorful double stars, galaxies, gaseous nebulae, open star clusters and globular star clusters. A constellation tour of the night sky will be provided.

The public is encouraged to attend these sessions in Spirio Soccer Field at 580 Overlook Road.