Stars Take Center Stage at Sunset Bay Astronomy Festival
AT A GLANCE
What: Sunset Bay Astronomy Festival
When: Sept. 10–12.
Where: Sunset Bay and Shore Acres state parks near Coos Bay.
Highlights: Solar viewing, guided programs, night-sky photography, and nightly telescope star parties.
Photography workshops: Thursday and Friday; advance registration required.
Parking: $10 per vehicle throughout the Sunset Bay Management Unit.
Weather: Outdoor activities are weather dependent.
Three nights of telescopes, guided programs, and coastal stargazing return to Sunset Bay and Shore Acres Sept. 10–12.
COOS BAY, Ore. — When the sun drops below the Oregon Coast this week, the attention at Sunset Bay and Shore Acres state parks will turn upward.
The Sunset Bay Astronomy Festival returns Sept. 10–12 for three evenings built around dark skies, telescopes, photography, and a closer look at the universe above the coast.
The three-day festival spreads activities across the Sunset Bay management unit, with most events centered at Sunset Bay State Park and Shore Acres State Park.
Visitors can join daytime solar viewing, guided hikes and interpretive programs before each evening ends with a star party and telescopes at Shore Acres Garden.
“It’s a fun way to experience the park at night and enjoy stargazing along the coast,” Park Manager Lee Ricci said.
Ricci said the event has grown in popularity and will feature a team of volunteers along with what he described as some “very impressive telescopes.”
There is, of course, one thing organizers cannot control.
“We’re excited to welcome visitors — and keeping our fingers crossed for clear skies,” Ricci said.
Stars Over Shore Acres: Visitors gather beneath the Milky Way during an astronomy program at the Sunset Bay management unit near Coos Bay. The Sunset Bay Astronomy Festival returns Sept. 10–12 with telescope viewing, interpretive programs, and night-sky photography. Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.
From the sun to distant worlds
The festival begins Thursday afternoon with solar viewing at the Sunset Bay Campground Interpretive Center.
Later that day, photographers can take part in a night-sky photography workshop before an evening program on navigating in darkness and the first star party of the weekend.
Friday follows a similar rhythm, adding a guided hike exploring Earth as an ocean planet and an evening program titled “Imagining Other Worlds.”
Saturday’s lineup includes solar viewing at Shore Acres, a program called “How to Talk to Aliens — Even if You’re Shy,” and an evening exploration of the universe.
Each night concludes with telescopes set up at Shore Acres Garden beginning around 8 p.m.
Photography workshops require registration
Night-sky photography workshops are scheduled from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday.
Space requires advance registration by emailing Park Manager Lee Ricci at Lee.Ricci@oprd.oregon.gov.
Other festival activities do not require workshop registration, although visitors should check the individual event schedules before arriving.
What visitors should know
A $10 parking permit per vehicle is required throughout the Sunset Bay Management Unit, including Sunset Bay and Shore Acres day-use areas.
Because much of the festival takes place outdoors, programs are weather dependent and could be affected by clouds or changing coastal conditions.
For those who get a clear night, though, the setting offers something difficult to reproduce indoors: the Pacific Coast after dark, surrounded by forest, with telescopes pointed far beyond it.
Keep Reading
