Pa. park wins "dark sky" designation
Pennsylvania's little-known, but much-beloved (by amateur astronomers) Cherry Springs State Park has been named an International Dark Sky Park by the International Dark Sky Association. It
is only the second park to win that honor. The first (last year) was Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah.
The best thing about Cherry Springs is that it is so far east, perhaps the last best refuge of the natural night sky east of the Mississippi. Almost everywhere else, Baltimore included, urban light pollution has washed out the star-choked night sky that our ancestors knew so well. Few of today's children have ever seen what the night sky really looks like. Ask your kids of they have ever seen the Milky Way. Ask yourself.
While it's not exactly an easy day trip for Marylanders, Cherry Springs is only a five-hour car ride away, in north-central Pa. And there's plenty to do once you get there, even with that pesky sun in the sky. And once night falls, the view on a clear night is stupendous. And the park folks have worked hard for years to keep it that way. It's a real astro-tourist draw. The photo of the Milky Way at left was shot by Jeff Ball at Cherry Springs. A long exposure exaggerates its beauty, but you won't be disappointed.
Here's the full release on the new dark-sky kudos for Cherry Springs Park:


From there the 

To astronomers, it's the day when the

And this time, the sharp-eyed among us may get a bonus - a glimpse of the European Space Agency's Jules Verne automated transport vehicle - a cargo drone on a test run to the ISS this weekend. That's it at left.
The ISS is brighter than ever these days, thanks to the shiny new Columbus module transported to the station this month by astronauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, and new solar panels and radiators added in other recent flights. 


It's not an ideal situation. Although it is an evening event, making it more convenient for most people, the flyby is comparatively late in the evening, which means the Earth's shadow is high in the sky. So, the ISS will fly into the shadow near the highest point in its passage and disappear abruptly from our view. So expect a short view. A much better flyby is expected Friday evening, but the 