Spring Stargazing Program Scheduled

The Winnebago County Conservation Board will be holding a Spring Stargazing program on Friday evening, May 6th. The program will be held at the Pilot Knob State Park tower, five miles east of Forest City, beginning at 9:30 PM, and should last about 45-60 minutes.
During the program, Winnebago County Naturalist Lisa Ralls will lead people on an informal tour of the spring nighttime sky. She will discuss just what stars are and will point out such constellations as the Gemini Twins and Leo the Lion, as well as favorites such as the Big and Little Dippers and Draco the Dragon. People will also learn how to identify some of the brighter spring stars, including the twin stars of Castor and Pollux, Arcturus, and Spica. And, all the time, Jupiter will be shining brightly overhead and Mars will be rising in the east!
The Spring Stargazing program will be free and open to the public and star charts will be handed out to everyone to take home afterwards. People are asked to bring along a pair of binoculars, if possible. Of course, if the skies are cloudy that night, the program will have to be postponed or canceled. If that happens, the announcement will run on KIOW Radio (FM 107.3), as well as on the WCCB web site (www.winnebagoccb.com), the WCCB Facebook page, and the WCCB Twitter feed. For more information about the Spring Stargazing program, people can contact Naturalist Lisa Ralls at 641-565-3390 or at lralls@winnebagoccb.com.