KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The moon is rising later each day, thus providing a great telescopic opportunity to view three visible planets, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter, plus a host of fascinating deep sky objects – the Great Hercules Star Cluster, the beautiful Ring Nebula and other Messier objects, under very dark skies.

These astronomical wonders can be seen Saturday night as the Friends of Taylor Observatory presents its annual “Fun with Telescopes” night as its June Window to the Universe event.

Local telescope owners are invited to bring their working or non-working telescopes for consultation with Taylor astronomers.

They also can get advice on how to purchase an appropriate sky-viewing device, whether it be a telescope, binoculars or a digital camera, perhaps with an equatorial mount to track star movement.

As a special bonus, there will be two short talks. Local astronomer Tom Schleif, also a Taylor board member, will describe his construction of an artisan Steampunk Dobsonian telescope out of spare parts.

This project combined Schleif's new interest in astronomy with a lifelong talent for fabrication of quality wood structures and furniture. The result will surprise and delight you, and this interesting scope may even see first starlight on Saturday night.

In a second talk, Friends of Taylor President Bill Haddon will present some first thoughts about the new concept of astrotourism for Lake County.

The idea is to designate our location as a recognized Dark Sky Community by obtaining official certification from the Dark Sky Society. 

This project, which has the potential to bring throngs of visitors to Lake County from the light-polluted Bay Area, Sacramento and Santa Rosa population centers, would be aided by our existing astronomy-friendly lighting ordinance passed some years ago in the county.

Such an ordinance, and the means to enforce it, is a prerequisite for a Dark Sky Community designation, thus providing a valuable head start on the project.

Haddon hopes to enlist individuals, local businesses, civic organizations and other interested groups in promoting this kind of tourism for the county. Such a designation, when obtained, will be only the third one in all of Northern California.

For the Saturday Window to the Universe Taylor will open at 6:30 p.m. Through the evening they will  have planetarium shows hosted by Eduardo Alatorre and David Velasquez, the Schleif and Haddon talks, consultations on telescopes, and finally, after dark, views through the Taylor’s various telescopes.

Further information is available from www.taylorobservatory.org , www.friendsoftaylor.org or by calling 415-209-3084 and by visiting the Friends of Taylor Observatory on Facebook.