I’m planning a star party for our neighborhood in July so our local folks can do a little stargazing. We tried one last year, and it ended up raining that night. It had been clear for days before, so we figured it was a good time. But, suddenly the universe decided to send a little moisture our way just in time for stargazing. I didn’t mind too much—the drought in our area is pretty bad, so a little rain isn’t a bad thing.

If you’ve ever wanted to give a star party, it’s pretty easy to do. You just announce one, then it rains that night, and you reschedule. If you’re lucky, the cosmos will give you that second night as a clear one. If not, you rinse, lather, and repeat till you get a good night. Then, you gather at the right spot, look up, and explore.

Quality over Quantity

The star party we had attracted about 40 or 50 people. That included folks who drove quite a ways to get up to a clear dark-sky site. We had telescopes lined up like cannons along a walkway. A couple of observers even brought computerized systems and dazzled attendees with real-time screenshots of galaxies and clusters. It was a lot of fun.

Just so you know, though, none of that is necessary for a good star party. All you really need is a clear, dark sky (or access to a fairly dark area without direct lighting if you live in an urban setting. You do need a knowledge of the main constellations (or have somebody there with you who does), and a pointer. Some star charts are useful, too.

At a star party I gave last fall for a group of Cub Scouts, we had a few telescopes, but they didn’t get used. Instead, the main attraction was the Big Dipper. We talked about that one for quite a while, with the kids asking questions about it. I showed them how to use the Pointer Stars to find other objects. The Dipper was not in the best position in the sky, but we could see it clearly along the horizon. For our purposes, it worked well enough. As a bonus, we could see the Milky Way arching overhead.

Announcing an Eclipse

Not every star party gets organized in advance. Nor is it always a star party.

In May, I “worked” a science fiction media Con in Denver as the science track organizer. My job was to bring good science speakers in to share their work. We had quite a nice selection of folks, and attendees were quite enthusiastic about the talks. Each day, I announced that on Sunday night at the end of the Con, there’d be an eclipse of the Moon. I figured most people would be headed home that night, but at least they’d have something to do that night. Not only would the Moon look cool, but it would be a good chance to do a little stargazing.

I walked out of the hotel on Sunday to take a break and found about 50 or so people scattered around the parking lot, observing the eclipse. It was a very relaxing experience, and afterward, I got emails from people sharing their feelings about the event.

Just Get Out There

There’s something about the sky and stargazing that just attracts people, whether they know much about it or not. And, there are certainly a lot of good places to do it, ranging from your backyard to national parks. Over the years, I’ve attended many star parties. Sometimes I’ve been a guest speaker. Other times, I was showing people the sky from onboard a cruise ship. Often enough, it has been from a backyard or a mountaintop.

If you do give a star party, don’t stress over not knowing the whole sky. There are plenty of resources out there, including star charts you can take outside (or install on your smartphone or data pad). What’s important is that you just get out there and do it. Before long, you’ll find you and your family and friends talking about all kinds of cosmic things, all spurred on by a desire to see the stars.

NASA announced today that it approved extensions of eight very successful planetary missions. Their targets range from Mars and nearby asteroids to the most distant reaches of the solar system. Each of the missions went through an evaluation process within NASA. Science panels examined the scientific output of each mission as well as its potential future accomplishments.

OSIRIS-APEX Continues its Asteroid Mission

Asteroids remain high on the planetary mission study list. The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission is about to deliver some much-anticipated samples from asteroid Bennu. The mission grabbed these bits of the asteroid in 2020.

With the new extension, the mission is changing its name slightly to OSIRIS-APophis EXplorer (OSIRIS-APEX). The name indicates the new exploration goals for the spacecraft which it will fulfill during an encounter with asteroid Apophis in 2029.

Apophis is an S-type asteroid, meaning it’s a stony (siliceous) composition. It’s on an orbit that will bring it to within 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers) of Earth in 2029. That will give the spacecraft a good “close-up” encounter as it enters orbit around Apophis. If all goes well, the spacecraft’s thrusters will loosen up some dust and small rocks on and below Apophis’ surface and return data for further study.

Extended Planetary Missions at Mars

Several spacecraft currently studying Mars got life extensions, too. They are:

• the InSight mission, the only active seismic station on the Red Planet
• the Mars Science Laboratory (with the Curiosity rover);
• the MAVEN mission (currently studying the Martian atmosphere);
• Mars Odyssey (also doing climate monitoring), which will extend its attention to the thermal studies of rocks and ice beneath the Martian surface;
• and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It has been extended six times now and continues to provide insights into the Mars’ surface, geology, atmosphere, climate, and surface ices.

The extension of these missions continues to provide long-term data about Mars, which is necessary for future explorations by both robotic probes and humans.

Extending a Lunar Planetary Mapping Mission

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been doing a wonderful job giving us long-term studies of lunar geology and mapping the Moon’s surface. It got an extension to study new regions, including the permanently shadowed areas where water ice may exist in some abundance. The Moon is NASA’s next target for renewed human exploration. So, it’s important to get as much information about resources as possible.

A Planetary Mission Explores Distant Reaches

Finally, the New Horizons mission, which successfully explored Pluto and the Kuiper Belt Object called Arrokoth. It’s in its second extended mission, and now has a third extension. Its ultimate job is to explore the distant solar system out to a distance of at least 63 astronomical units. It can do different kinds of observations of additional bodies it might fly by. It will also monitor the influence of the Sun in these distant parts of the solar system.

Going the Limit on Planetary Missions

Each of these spacecraft will, of course, eventually run out of fuel. Or, they will lose components during their missions, Still, NASA weighed the consequences of those future events. Each mission has its limits, of course. But, the extensions they received are good-faith moves. They make the most of the assets we have in near-Earth space, on the Moon, Mars, and out in the Kuiper Belt.

These eight are part of a fleet of 14 spacecraft NASA is operating. In the future, we can expect to see possibly a dozen more missions to the planets, operated by NASA and its international partners in planetary exploration. If you want more details about all the missions, check out the 2022 Planetary Science Senior Review report.