April 15, 2009                                        

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: (505) 983-4609

**PLEASE SEE NEW TIME FOR CLASS**

May Day Star Party at the Randall Davey Audubon Center

Santa Fe, New Mexico – The Randall Davey Audubon Center and John Remaly will host a STAR PARTY on May 1, 2009, from 7:30 – 9:00 p.m. in the Education Center. All ages are welcome. John Remaly leads bird walks at the Audubon Center when he is not out looking at the stars, and will share his experiences and knowledge about the night sky with us at this May Day event.

John will be discussing “The International Year of Astronomy” -- it is 400 years since Galileo first used the telescope for astronomy in 1609. There will also be a brief talk about deep space objects, including open star clusters, globular clusters, nebulae, binary stars, Saturn, the Messier catalog, a tour of the constellations and more. We’ll cover how to use binoculars to view stars, as well telescopes. Then we will move outside into the very dark night and view some of these wondrous sights through the telescopes.

The cost is $5 for adults and $1 for children 10 and under. Dress warmly; bring binoculars and telescopes if you have them and warm drinks if you want. Come prepared to be inside first, and then outside in the dark.

The Center is located at the very top of Upper Canyon Road in Santa Fe. Please call Linda Newberry, 505-983-4609 for more information and to sign up. Audubon recently celebrated its 25^th year at the Randall Davey Audubon Center in Santa Fe, and our mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity.

We hope you will join us to enjoy the beautiful, often unnoticed, night skies.

For more information, please call:
Linda Newberry, Center Manager
Randall Davey Audubon Center
P.O. Box 9314
Santa Fe, NM 87504
505-983-4609, ext. 29
lnewberry@audubon.org
http://nm.audubon.org