Fingers are crossed for a clear night to view the Perseid meteor shower Aug. 11.
Kerry Wood Nature Centre is holding its 100–1,000,000 Miles fundraising event at Fort Normandeau with the meteor shower as the star attraction.
“Meteor showers happen at the same time every year. This one that happens in August every year is particularly well known for being one of the better shows, so more shooting stars per hour,” said Alice Koning, the centre’s community and outreach programmer.
The adult-only event will feature a 100-mile sourced dinner prepared by a local chef and Troubled Monk is providing the beverages, live music, a silent auction, and an astronomy talk.
Only 30 tickets were printed with a few still available as of Tuesday.
“We’re hoping it becomes an annual event. The idea is to provide an intimate, riverside experience that highlights local producers.”
She said the centre’s 30-cm reflecting telescope will be at the event so people can take a closer look at Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and star clusters. The telescope isn’t required to view the meteor shower, but people should dress warmly for star gazing event.
“Don’t dress up fancy even though it’s a nice dinner because it does get chilly being outside for that long. Bring a blanket.”
People can even bring a lawn chair to relax under the stars, she said.
The peak nights for viewing the Perseid shower is Aug. 11 and 12. But people can still watch it before or after those dates, she said.
“During these meteor shower events, the earth happens to be travelling through a part of space that has a whole bunch of space debris. Earth doesn’t travel through that part of space in one night. It’s travelling through this meteor shower area for a few weeks.”
Konning said the campfire at the gazebo seats about 30 people and stargazing will begin when it gets dark at around 10 p.m.
“If we’re having great weather, it’s crystal clear and everyone is enjoying themselves, I can see it going as late as 2 a.m.”
Even if there’s some rain, the event will still go ahead because shelter is available, she said.
Tickets are $75 each and are available at Kerry Wood Nature Centre.
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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