Just east of Edmonton lies a lookout where the stars shine a little brighter. On Sunday, everyone is invited to celebrate it. It’s been 19 years since the Beaver Hills Dark Sky Preserve was first declared. Nestled between the bright city lights and Elk Island National Park, the trail and observatory benefit from a lack of light pollution. The Edmonton chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) there typically offers night and day viewing. “In the city, you can see a handful of stars, maybe 20 tops. But out at Beaver Hills, you can see hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of stars. You can see the Milky Way. You can see some of the bright deep sky objects like M13, which is a globular cluster, or even a nebula,” explained RASC public education director Geoff Robertson. This Labour Day weekend, the group will host its annual star-gazing event, called Milky Way Day. Attendees can show up anytime between 2 p.m. and “late,” according to Elk Island National Park officials. Alberta has already seen a partial solar and partial lunar eclipse in the last few weeks, Robertson said, so don’t come with expectations to see anything but some bright stars. “There is talk of a comet, which may be bright, but talk is cheap. Comets are like cats. They have tails and they do whatever they want … Sometimes they’re very spectacular.” There will be an information booth on site between 2 and 5 p.m. with handouts to stargazers. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Darcy Seaton
