Navigation

Sister Bay Star Party Observes Perseid Meteor Shower

Stargazers take in the spectacle of the Perseid meteor show.

On Aug. 11, stargazers at the Sister Bay Sports Complex were greeted with telescopes set up by the Door Peninsula Astronomical Society and Sister Bay Star Party founders, Tim and Holly Erskine. The Second Annual Sister Bay Star Party was carefully timed to coincide with the Perseid meteor showers.

“Every year around Aug. 12 the Earth passes through a dirty patch of space left behind by Comet Swift Tuttle,” explained college chemistry professor Holly Erskine. If you are in a place with low light pollution, you can see bits of dirt the size of a grain of sand “hit our atmospheric windshield” and burn up in a blazing display, commonly called a shooting star.

Tim Erskine, founder of Night Sky Ventures, Inc., founded the Sister Bay Star Party because he wanted to share his appreciation for celestial spectacles with others.

Tim has been a longtime advocate for dark skies, which are becoming increasingly rare. The Erskines feel the unpolluted skies of Sister Bay are an unappreciated treasure for Door County tourists and feel compelled to protect it. “These star parties are designed to create an awareness of something precious that every child should have preserved for them,” Holly explained.

If interested in attending star parties or astronomy meetings, contact DPAS at doorastronomy.org or 920.746.5895.