Star parties at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SBDNL) have quickly become a Leelanau family tradition of admiring the night sky in northern Michigan. SBDNL hosted a star party earlier this month. Although the party wasn’t canceled, it was overshadowed by cloudy weather.
“A lot of people showed up (100-150), which is pretty good considering the weather. People stuck around to see if there’d be a break in the clouds, but it never came,” said Dave Fenlon, education outreach specialist at SBDNL. “The Grand Traverse astronomers were out there, we were out there. That’s just how it goes sometimes. This is northern Michigan weather. Even if the forecast looks good, that can all change.”
Fenlon says star parties have grown, and SBDNL has developed a following of night sky enthusiasts from all around the Midwest.
