Long after the sun has set, picture yourself looking up into the cloudless night and viewing the 200 billion stars and star clusters of the Milky Way. Now imagine yourself over the crescent moon, inspecting the deep craters and shadowy hills that line the dark side of the moon, the terminus. Within our spiral galaxy, imagine yourself so close to Saturn that you can distinctly see the five major separate rings of ice and dust that revolve around its immense planet.

Now travel 1,500 light years from Earth and a little past Orion. Here looms the cloud of the Horsehead Nebula, the infant star that will eventually change into a brilliant new sun of the Milky Way. A little farther still, you are thousands of light years from home. You pass by a star on the verge of death. A red giant. It is one hundred times larger than the sun. Again, a little farther. Imagine the light of new galaxies washing over you. The foreign lights of the stars of these galaxies form an entirely different shape than that of the Milky Way. They are elliptical, winged, and fascinatingly irregular.

Now come back to Earth. Dart past the galaxies, the Milky Way, the red giant, the nebula, Saturn, and the moon. Now look up again and follow the streaks of shooting stars from the Leonid meteor shower through the blue-green opaque haze of the northern lights.

Sound impossible? Not for Alan French and his club, the Albany Area Amateur Astronomers, which has taken this journey nearly every weekend in the spring, summer, and autumn months for the past thirty years.

This group may never leave solid ground to get a closer look at these constellations, bodies, and galaxies. They have no need to when all of this can be viewed through a simple telescope. For about three hours during clear nights on the weekends from April to November, individuals from the 150-member club and over come together to celebrate “star parties” and search the heavens for the sake of intrigue, inspiration, and pure enjoyment.

Zodiac Constellations
		Roll your cursor over these pictures to view our summer constellations Scorpio and Sagittarius. Click here to view the zodiac constellations of all four seasons.

“I always had an interest in the sky since the third grade,” explains French, the vice president of the Albany Area Amateur Astronomers. “After I saw the Sputnik satellite cross the sky, I started making my own telescopes out of wood and cardboard, and I continue to do so.”

"I definitely see the North Country as a great opportunity for those interested in astronomy. Away from Montréal, Burlington, [or Dannemora] you can see deep space objects, and a clear view of the milky way in the middle of the Adirondacks."

French continued pursuing his astronomical fascination through high school, college, and onto retirement with the Albany-based astronomy club. The club is a combined group of two earlier astronomy clubs: a smaller Albany-based organization, which began in the 1950s and a Schenectady-based club, which began in the 1920s. Ten years ago, these two clubs came together to form the Albany Area Amateur Astronomers.

The North Country is a perfect setting for night sky viewing. As you drive south of Albany toward New York City, you will encounter industrial pollution, but the real problem for astronomers is the consistent glare of a different type of befoulment—light pollution.

"The Adirondacks offer extremely dark skies," remarks Lisabeth Kissner, an adjunct astronomy professor at Plattsburgh State University College. "I definitely see the North Country as a great opportunity for those interested in astronomy. Away from Montréal, Burlington, [or Dannemora] you can see deep space objects, and a clear view of the Milky Way in the middle of the Adirondacks."

According to Kissner, while areas near the equator are in a far better position to see a variety of astronomical bodies, the North Country is one of the best areas in New York to view the heavens. Because of this area's advantages, there are two observatories being planned for construction in some areas upstate.

"There are two proposed observatories that may be built in the future," Kissner said. "One of these would be built in the Tupper Lake area and the other may be constructed in the Twin Valley Camp in the Plattsburgh area."

The summer months in the Adirondacks are the perfect time of year to begin a hobby in amateur astronomy. As your eyes follow the lightening bugs floating across your backyard, and as you listen to the crickets chirping and buzzing along with the silent melody of the night, how can you avoid the simple pleasure of spending time outside on a clear night?

Enter the star party. These parties usually begin a few hours after twilight when there is no chance of the sun obstructing the telescope's view. Partygoers congregate in the grassy fields of Indian Meadows Park in Glenville, the George Landis Arboretum in Esperance, Grafton Lakes State Park in Grafton, or the Cherry Plain State Park, to take advantage of the remarkably unobstructed night skies.

French regularly attends the parties in Indian Meadows Park. During these parties six to twelve telescopes are assembled along the grass.

“A brief orientation is customary for new members on how to look through the telescopes and on the constellation placements,” French explains and then adds with a short chuckle, “I have had times when the telescope gets knocked a bit and whatever we were looking at originally is moved from the view. Some people who are new at looking through a telescope are very polite and don't tell anybody that their telescope isn't showing them anything.”

If these sites are a bit too far for you to travel then you should consider the other activity options Kissner has for those interested in astronomy.

Occasionally during meteor showers or eclipses, star parties are held at Point Au Roche State Park in Plattsburgh through Kissner and PSUC. "A few years ago we had well over 100 people join us in a party," recounts Kissner. "The facility hosts the groups and some people use binoculars, and other use the 14" telescopes. Refreshments are served as we look at meteor showers, planetary alignments, and other interesting things in space."

Kissner and the college also offer planetarium shows at the North Country Planetarium for those interested in learning a bit more information about our skies. "There's different types of shows," explains Kissner. There are shows for elementary school students during mornings, and public presentations, as well.

"We have public programs on Friday nights and sometimes Saturday matinees," says Kissner. "We have ephemeris presentations. Here we have a show on interesting current sky objects. We have two or three of these shows a semester, and one to three on a special topic like telescopes." These presentations usually follow in correlation with the seasons and interesting night sky planets, celestial events, and current event topics that intrigue both amateur and professional astronomers alike.

So keep your head up! Look at the sky and picture the heavens in three dimensions. There is more to the night's sky than the moon, speckles of light, and black. You can experience journeys through billions of suns, sensational planets, meteor showers, vague nebulas, and an abundance of intricate galaxies. With the right equipment, you don't even have to leave your own backyard to travel light-years away.

What's your sign?

Interested in astrology? The traditional zodiac symbols are not limited to the back page of a magazine or newspaper. These astrological emblems shine brightly throughout the night sky; however they cannot be found every night of the year. Here is a list of constellations along with the certain times of the year that you can see them:

Summer
Scorpio (Scorpius)
Sagittarius

Fall
Capricorn (Capricornus)
Aquarius
Pisces

Winter
Aries
Taurus
Gemini

Spring
Cancer
Leo
Virgo
Libra

Summertime Night Sky Events
There are a number of astronomical events to look forward to this summer. While the skies are not as clear in the summer as they are in the autumn and winter, these particular events are worth a look.

June 11: Full moon.

July 11: Full moon.

July 18: Mercury will be visible in the night sky.

July 28-29: Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower. This shower should be visible over the stars in the Aquarius constellation. The Southern Delta Aquarids is a rather strong shower, which produces fifteen to twenty meteors an hour.

August 8: Northern Delta Aquarids meteor shower. This is a weaker meteor shower than the Southern Delta Aquarids, but it can be viewed in the same position in the sky.

August 9: Full Moon

August 10: Neptune will be at its closest to Earth. It will appear only as a tiny blue dot and it may be difficult to find without some help from a celestial map.

August 12: Perseids meteor shower. The shower will last from August 8-14, but the peak of the meteor shower will take place on August 12. This is a famously vivid shower and should be a fun show to watch.

September 5: Uranus will reach its closest position to earth.