In the March 2023 issue of www.connectionnewspapers.com the Analemma Society and Observatory Park made the cover with "Seeing Stars" with the caption: "While this visitor to Observatory Park in Great Falls views Mars through a refractor telescope, the red planet and nearby Pleiades star cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters, are visible overhead." [See photo at right]

“I’d like to increase astronomy programs across the county, but if given a choice to sign up for a class elsewhere or at the observatory, the public will choose the observatory,” said Tammy Schwab, Fairfax County Park Authority education and outreach manager.

Christina Tyler Wenks, author of the article, continued: "Outdoor night-sky programs started in 2003, but the Roll Top Building’s 2016 completion was a game changer. The Roll- Top is half classroom and half-observatory, where the roof opens providing sky access to mounted telescopes. Walls block headlights and wind, providing a darker, warmer space on cold nights.

“Now that we have the classroom, we can do regular programs. We go right from the classroom to telescopes, and we don’t have the setup time of hauling telescopes outdoors,” explained Analemma Society’s Jeffrey Kretsch, who works with FCPA to accommodate increasing program demand."

Join us for free public observing of the sky every Friday night at Observatory Park, Turner Farm, Great Falls VA..  April-May hours 8:00pm to 10:00pm.  Summer hours May 12th and after 8:30pm to 10:30pm.