WOAY-TV (Oak Hill, WV): Labor Day weekend offered the perfect opportunity for folks from across the states to see the entire Milky Way galaxy in West Virginia.
Troy Riedel of James City County, Va., says, “You cannot find a darker place east of the Mississippi River than you have here, right here at Spruce Knob, West Virginia.”
George Doschek of Potomac, Md., “I’m from Potomac, Maryland. Well, I have this image stabilizing binoculars, which freezes me sort of the freezes, the image, 17 not shaking all the time. So I looked at the Andromeda Galaxy, which was near the zenith, a point not quite there yet.”
What keeps James Granahan of Bealeton, Va., coming back? “The dark skies and it’s a really neat location to explore West Virginia.”
Organizer Sean Matthews said, “Nighttime, you’re going to get the Milky Way, just absolutely beautiful. You see dust lanes in it. You see the Andromeda Galaxy naked eye. We’ve got plenty of activities for people all the way from biking to hiking to canoeing to caving past railroad that you went to yesterday, and another interesting experience, if you like. Steam engines and that type of stuff. So, the entire area has a lot to offer. So again, it goes with the whole it’s not just about the night skies.”
So if folks want to learn more about the star party, they should click here.
This particular weekend always coincides with the New Moon. Matthews said, “You need absolute darkness to see the Milky Way and its full beauty. Even a little bit of moonlight. You know, people don’t realize it, but it will completely wash it out. So every year it’s right around the new moon and you know, the added bonus to that, you do see some fair, sporadic meteors as well.”
Jackie Lambert of the Experience Learning Center said, “So we have various events throughout our programming season, which runs April to the end of October. So the first thing that’s kind of on the docket is we have a wilderness first aid course that people can come up and take and become experts in rescuing themselves in the backcountry. We also have another star party that’s a little smaller called Night Owl Star Party.
And then in June, we have a first that’s open to everybody. It’s just a day where we come out to the high plains and fly kites. In July, we have the gravel ride-up spruce knob in connection with another group. So, there will be about 500 bike riders up here riding around all of our trails. And then we have, of course, this event in August.
And then finally in October, we have the trilogy Run for the Hills, where people run a 50K on one day, a 50-miler the next day and a half marathon the day after that. So if that sounds your speed, you could also sign up for that. And then we kind of close up shop and calm down a little bit for the winter.”
