While
September and October are great times to see fall colors, the clear nights of
autumn also provide excellent opportunities to appreciate the night sky and
to teach your kids about the constellations. Many campgrounds are often a
perfect location for enjoying the night’s sky with stargazing activities
on-site or nearby.

Campgrounds for
Your Constellation Enjoyment

Lazy
River at Granville in Granville, Ohio, regularly provides its guests
with information about major astronomical events, such as meteor showers and
lunar eclipses, as well as dates and times when the U.S. Space Station flies
overhead.

The
Jellystone Park Camp-Resort in Nashville, Tenn., works closely with
a nearby program called Skies over Nashville, which takes place at Sudekeum
Plantarium. Skies Over Nashville is a live program in which a planetarium
educator shows you how to locate and identify naked-eye seasonal
constellations, bright stars, planets and other interesting celestial objects
visible during your visit.

Palm
Canyon Hotel & RV Resort in Borrego Springs, Calif., is
hosting its annual Nightfall event Oct. 23 – 26, when it invites astronomers
from across the country to bring their telescopes and spend the weekend
educating children and families about the planets and constellations.“It’s
one of our most popular events,” said Avery Downs, a spokeswoman for the
resort. “We typically sell out months in advance.”

Some
resorts even have their own astronomy clubs, such as
Voyager RV Resort
in Tucson, Ariz. “Arizona is an astronomers dream,” said Debby
Mitchell, Voyager’s activities director. She said the club has weekly
meetings and discussions of astronomy-related topics as well as monthly star
parties on its tennis courts in January, February and March.

A Few Regions to Consider in the
Fall

Bar Harbor, Maine, has the Acadia Night Sky
Festival, which runs from Sept. 25 – 29 and includes a variety of
special nighttime events, including hikes, boat cruises and workshops led by
speakers familiar with the constellations.

Flagstaff,
Ariz., has an annual Festival of Science that
includes nighttime stargazing opportunities at Northern Arizona University,
the U.S. Naval Observatory and at Lowell Observatory, whose achievements
include the discovery of the planet Pluto and the fact the universe is
expanding.

Cape Canaveral, Fla., is set to launch NASA’s
Orion Spacecraft on Dec. 4, which will be an event that the kids will
remember for a lifetime. The Orion is an ambitious
space exploration project that will be years in the making, and
this year spectators will be able to see the first phase take
off.

Find Events and Campgrounds
Around You

But you don’t have to travel across the country
to learn about night sky. Numerous organizations, including universities,
astronomical societies and observatories, have family friendly “star parties”
that provide excellent opportunities for families to learn about the
constellations.

Simply Google search “star party” the name
of a city where you would like to camp and you’ll find dates, times and
locations of family friendly star parties. You can then use GoCampingAmerica.com to find a
campground to further enhance your night sky experience.