The Moon and beyond!
The 2019 North Carolina Science Festival will feature the Statewide Star Party as a signature event, thanks to generous grant support from the North Carolina Space Grant.
During this 7th annual Statewide Star Party, astronomy clubs, state and local parks, universities, planetariums, science centers, nature centers, and libraries will host public skywatching sessions at more than 50 sites across North Carolina on Friday, April 12, and Saturday, April 13, 2019. About 5,000 visitors and 200 STEM professionals and volunteers are expected to participate.
This year’s Star Party theme is “The Moon and Beyond” in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first humans to walk on the moon. Hosts will lead moon observing and hands-on activities from the Star Party kit to help visitors explore all things lunar.
2019 NC Statewide Star Party Locations
FRIDAY, APRIL 12
- Apex: American Tobacco Trail
- Asheboro: Asheboro Public Library
- Asheville: Pack Memorial Library
- Asheville: UNC Asheville Lookout Observatory
- Atlantic Beach: Fort Macon State Park
- Carolina Beach: Carolina Beach State Park
- Chapel Hill: Chapel Hill Public Library
- Charlotte: McDowell Nature Center
- China Grove: Rowan Public Library
- Conover: Conover Branch Library
- CANCELED - Danbury: Hanging Rock State Park
- Davidson: Davidson College
- LOCATION CHANGE - Durham: Old North Durham Park
- Fayetteville: Cape Fear Botanical Garden
- Fayetteville: West Regional Branch Library
- POSTPONED - Harrisburg: Harrisburg Library
- LOCATION CHANGE - Henderson: Fox Pond Park
- Jamestown: Guilford Technical Community College
- Kill Devil Hills: Nags Head Woods
- Lumberton: Robeson Planetarium and Exploration Station
- Newland: Avery-Mitchel-Yancey Library
- Pittsboro: Chatham Community Library
- POSTPONED TO 5/31 - Raleigh: Prairie Ridge Ecostation
- Raleigh: Wilkerson Nature Preserve
- POSTPONED - Rocky Mount: Braswell Memorial Library
- South Mills: Dismal Swamp State Park
- POSTPONED TO 4/26 - Statesville: Lake Norman State Park
- Swansboro: Hammocks Beach State Park
- POSTPONED - Sylva: Jackson County Airport
- Waynesville: Haywood County Public Library
- Wilkesboro: Ft Hamby Park
- MOVED TO SATURDAY, 4/13 - Wilson: Imagination Station
Saturday, APRIL 13
- POSTPONED - Albemarle: Morrow Mountain State Park
- Boone: Appalachian State University
- TIME CHANGE - Burnsville: Bare Dark Sky Observatory
- Charlotte: Discovery Place
- Creswell: Pettigrew State Park
- Farmville: Farmville Public Library
- Franklin: Macon County Public Library
- Garner: White Deer Park
- Gastonia: Gaston Public Library
- Gastonia: Schiele Museum
- Gibsonville: Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum
- Greensboro: Greensboro Science Center
- Hillsborough: Orange County Public Library
- POSTPONED - Lillington: Harnett County Public Library
- Mount Gilead: Town Creek Indian Mound State Historic Site
- POSTPONED - Nashville: Stoney Creek Environmental Park
- Nebo: Lake James State Park
- Pinnacle: Pilot Mountain State Park
- Sneads Ferry: Onslow County Museum
- Sunset Beach: Ingram Planetarium
- Tryon: Harmon Field
- Winston-Salem: Kaleideum North
Click here for Star Party kit materials
For more information, please contact:
Amy Sayle and Hope Thomson
Coordinators, NC Statewide Star Party
Email: starparty@unc.edu
The Statewide Star Party is made possible with the support of NC Space Grant and the NC Science Festival.