New Moon Stargazing and Meteor Night

About this event

Field Trips for GrownUps + Making Strides We're teaming up with Making Strides for a nighttime field trip into the Ojito Wilderness! On Friday, October 9, we're heading to Seismosaurus Trail to get away from the city lights and spend a couple of hours under the New Mexico night sky. And we picked a pretty great night to do it. 🌑 THE NEW MOON We'll be going out right around the October New Moon, which means very little moonlight interfering with the night sky. Once our eyes adjust, we should have some excellent conditions for seeing stars that normally disappear in the glow of the city. ☄️ AND WE MAY HAVE SOME SHOOTING STARS There are actually three meteor showers active during this part of October. The Draconid Meteor Shower reaches its maximum around October 8–9, putting us right around its best viewing window. The Draconids are especially nice for an event like this because they're an evening meteor shower rather than one that requires us to be outside in the middle of the night. The Southern Taurids are also active. They don't usually produce huge numbers of meteors, but they're known for occasionally producing impressive bright fireballs. And the Orionids, created by debris left behind by Halley's Comet, are active as well, although they won't reach their peak until later in October. We're not promising a sky full of meteors. But we'll have dark skies, multiple active meteor showers, and a chance of catching a few shooting stars while we're out there. And even if we don't catch a single meteor, we'll still have the stars. THE PLAN Meet: 7:45 PM Location: Rio Rancho Home Depot Depart: 8:00 PM sharp Arrive at Ojito Wilderness: Approximately 8:30 PM Stargazing: Approximately 8:30–10:30 PM Return to Rio Rancho: Around 11:00 PM We'll try to carpool from Home Depot so we aren't taking a bunch of separate vehicles out there. We'll figure out drivers and passengers before we leave. NO HIKING REQUIRED This is not a hiking event. We're going out there…