Sarasota News Events

SIDEWALK ASTRONOMY
at the Celery Fields  Schedule

“The Local Group of Deep Sky Observers, a Bradenton/Sarasota group of astronomy enthusiasts, is pleased to announce our next public Sidewalk Astronomy event to be held at the Celery Fields in Sarasota this Saturday, January 4th from 6:00 – 10:00 p.m. As always, the event is open to everyone, FREE of charge, and weather-permitting.

Even though it’s still premature to predict with any certainty, as I write this a week out from the event, as of right now the forecast looks like it’ll be cloudless, crisp, and cool/cold with temps dipping into the low 50s. (If this forecast holds, the “feels-like” temps could be in the 40s, so dress accordingly!)

It’ll be a target-rich night. We have Saturn well-placed just below the crescent Moon throughout most of the evening, and though the rings are approaching edge-on (and thus invisible) status, they’re not quite there yet. So you’ll still have a chance to observe the rings at this event. Jupiter will be observable the entire night, and Mars will rise high enough above the tree line to view during the last half of the evening. The amazing stellar nursery, the Great Nebula in Orion, some 1400 light-years from the Earth will also be visible at this event.

The Celery Fields is home to the Sarasota Audubon Society, located at 6893 Palmer Boulevard, Sarasota. If this is your first time attending, note that we will gather in the small parking lot on the EAST of the Nature Center building; public parking is available in the large parking lot just to the WEST of the Nature Center building.

Looking ahead, here are our next four FREE public events:

Saturday, February 1st (Celery Fields)

Friday, March 7th (Bishop Planetarium)

Saturday, April 5th (Celery Fields)

Saturday, May 3rd (Celery Fields)

Hope to see you out there under the stars!”

Jonathan