March 29, 2024

Star Light, Star Bright

Sept. 9, 2016

Illuminating happenings at the Dark Sky Park each night.

The Headlands International Dark Sky Park is one of the true gems of northern Michigan. Located north of Harbor Springs and just south of Mackinaw City, it’s one of only about 40 certified dark sky parks around the world, offering unspoiled views of the landscape and Lake Michigan during the day and, at night, spectacular sky viewing that’s not marred by artificial light.

MAGICAL AUTUMN

Mary Stewart Adams is the director of the park. She notes that while summer is often considered peak nightsky viewing season because the weather is so accommodating, fall and winter is magical.

“One of the things you don’t want to overlook at the Headlands, especially with fall color season just around the corner, is that the grounds are beautiful for walking and hiking,” Adams said. “And by night, the richest part of the Milky Way is still overhead in its most beautiful array.” Also at the Headlands, the construction of the Waterfront Event Center is moving right along, with the first stages of its green roof in place and the interior and exterior walls underway.

Aug. 25 was an exciting day for Adams and the Headlands crew, as they oversaw the installation of an 18-foot Ash Dome-manufactured observatory dome for expanded night sky viewing. The dome will be controlled by an ASCOM system that will synchronize to the telescope it will house. “We’ll host our first public events at the new facility in spring 2017,” Adams said.

COSMIC CHALLENGES

In the meantime, there are plenty of events to participate in at the park, starting with the new StarLight Trivia gatherings. “It’s a trivia game about the stars overhead that are visible at the Headlands during the time of play,” Adams explained. “Teams compete with one another to see who can get the most correct answers, and the winning team wins a bag of Headlands swag.”

The Headlands Challenge is another popular happening for park visitors. “That’s our annual ‘walk through the woods’ event that was really the first official Dark Sky program we held at the Headlands back in 2009, when we first started the process to get our International Dark Sky designation,” Adams said. “My idea was to get as many people as possible outside for a walk through the woods in the dark, because too many of us don’t have that experience. And without that experience, it’s difficult to understand what’s being lost in our over-lit world.”

The team at Headlands is very creative, so you’ll find not just an ordinary forest but also a decorated wood and a walkway lined with softly glowing luminaries. “We’re adding a ‘haunted path’ to this year’s challenge, and we also have ghost stories. Sometimes the story involves an enchanted princess that pops out of an actual coffin,” Adams said.

NIGHT EVENTS

The night sky, as always, is cooperating with lots of events of its own for the fall and winter seasons. “The first week of September, the waxing crescent moon will be very pretty as it cascades up the stairway of evening planets and stars,” Adams said.

If you want to learn exactly which planets, you can of course visit the Headlands, but Adams also will narrate an astronomy cruise with Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry service for the Harvest Moon on Sept. 16.

In other sky news: “Venus is going to move past the best-named star in the sky on Oct. 3 — Zubenelgenubi in Libra — looking west-southwest about half an hour after sunset,” Adams said. “The following morning, the waning crescent moon will be right next to the brilliant planet Jupiter about 40 minutes before sunrise. It may just be possible to keep an eye on Jupiter until after the sun rises, which is always a fun experience.”

And you won’t want to miss what Adams calls “the most super supermoon.” “That will happen … on Monday, Nov. 14. The moon will be at its closest approach to earth in 30 years,” she said.

HARVEST CELEBRATION

The last can’t-miss Dark Sky Park event of the fall is the annual Headlands Harvest Festival Dance, which will take place Sept. 17 from 7:30–10pm, alongside the harvest moon’s arrival the night before. “The Harvest Moon is all about celebrating the bounty of the seasons and the work of cultivating a healthy harmony in one’s life, the ‘crop’ that one tends,” Adams said. “And so, we dance to celebrate.”

This year, the park will host the Jill Jack Band under its festival tent near the Headlands entrance. “I expect this to be a popular event, so guests should arrive early with their dancin’ shoes and something to sit on between sets,” Adams suggested. With everything going on, is it tough for Adams to choose a favorite event?

“It is hard for me to pick!” she said. “I love dancing. I love storytelling in the dark. I love chasing meteors and northern lights and picking out stars in the treetops. Can I just say all of it?”

Find out more about the Headlands International Dark Sky Park and its complete events schedule at midarkskypark.org, or call 231-348-1713. The park is free and open 24/7, 365 days a year.

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