Star Party - Image of the Night

Last night, Space For Us hosted an electrifying star party in collaboration with Oklahoma Contemporary, OKC Astronomy Club, and Lunar Sooners. It was an amazing time with 171 of our enthusiastic guests. Our hearts are filled.

Despite the cloud coverage, the atmosphere was charged with great energy as attendees eagerly waited for nightfall to see what we could of the universe!

Astronomy is truly a captivating field that demands patience as a valuable skill, especially when weather becomes a tricky factor. Although we couldn't capture the galaxy or nebula images we had hoped for, our perseverance paid off when, at the very last minute, the clouds parted, and we successfully snapped an image of the Wild Duck Cluster (M11)!

The Wild Duck Cluster is a cosmic gem, boasting the densest known open cluster—a beautiful congregation of stars born from the same molecular cloud, loosely bound together by gravity. M11, situated 6,000 light years away from Earth, has been shining brightly for approximately 220 million years!

While we couldn't Polaroid print the live observations of M11 as we closed down, the gratitude from everyone present warmed our hearts. We were at least able to share our First Light image of the Whirlpool Galaxy with guests to take home and begin to archive their observations at Space For Us star parties.

Here's to hoping for clear and even DARKER skies for our future astronomical gatherings!