One Week under the Stars – Astronomy Programs across the Country

This year marks the fourth edition of the One Week Under the Stars, a national series of events offering nearly 150 astronomy activities in more than 70 locations across the country from August 3 to 13, announced the Svábhegyi Observatory.

The event series offers spectacular and exciting adventures for young and old alike during the August star fall, the organizers said in a statement.

The programs include telescope shows, astronomy lectures, and shooting star shows. The aim of the initiative is to give as many people as possible the chance to experience stargazing.

According to the organizers, the campaign, lasting for 11 days, will include observations of Saturn’s ring system, the nebulae and star clusters of the summer sky, and the waning Moon, and provide excellent conditions for catching the Perseid meteor shower.

The Perseid meteors fall on August 12, when under ideal conditions, up to a dozen shooting stars will be visible in the sky.

The star parks of the Zselic (southwestern Hungary) and Hortobágy (village in eastern Hungary), the banks of the Danube in Szentendre (near Budapest), and the Barcs forest (border town in southwestern Hungary) will provide a special setting. Shooting stars can be hunted from the shores of Lake Balaton. In Szolnok (central Hungary), you have to “climb up” to the 24th floor to see the stars, while in Csömör (village in the Budapest metropolitan area) and Sülysáp (40 kilometers southeast of Budapest), the organizers invite visitors to take a night tour.

In and around the capital, there will also be telescopes in several locations. This year, there will again be cross-border demonstrations such as astronomy programs in Žitný ostrov (Csallóköz, Slovakia), Dorobanți (Kisiratos, Romania), and in Gheorgheni (Gyergyószentmiklós, Romania).

The Svábhegy Observatory is preparing a special event, based on the Sci-Fi movie, Stargate, for the star fall on August 12, where there is no limit to the number of visitors this time, starting from 5 p.m.

In some places, the programs will start during the day: in Balatonrendes (northern shore of Lake Balaton), Zalaszentgrót (in Zala County, western Hungary), and Szeged (southern Hungary), for example, you can observe the surface phenomena of our stars with telescopes equipped with special filters.

Detailed information about the program is available on the event’s website and on the Svábhegy Observatory’s website.

Via MTI, Featured image via Facebook/Svábhegyi Csillagvizsgáló