The Northwest Suburban Astronomers (NSA), in cooperation with the DeKalb County Forest Preserve District, will be hosting a public star party on Saturday, September 13th at Afton Forest Preserve (north entrance) in DeKalb County, Illinois. Look at stars, galaxies, nebulae and star clusters with the help of NSA member telescopes. Observing highlights will be the planets Mars and Saturn (early in the evening), globular clusters M15 and M22, open cluster M11, the Swan Nebula (M17), the Lagoon Nebula (M8) and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) (late in the evening) among others. A waning gibbous moon will rise at 10:08 p.m. CDT.

Dress for a chilly evening and bring a flashlight covered with red plastic or cellophane (red light preserves your night vision), also insect repellent if needed. Please arrive around 7:30 p.m. (sunset is at 7:08 p.m. CDT) or come early and picnic or hike the trails. You are welcome to bring your own telescope or binoculars. In the event of inclement weather the event will be canceled. There is no cost to attend and no registration is required. Afton Forest Preserve is located at 13600 Crego Road, DeKalb, Illinois (approximately 1 mile east of Illinois Route 23 and 1 mile south of Perry Road). A location map can be found here (site K on map). Please park in the main parking lot and walk to the west where we will be set up.