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The Adventure Zone

Past stories Surf's up! The Calgary Stampede Moraine for Life Adventure Relay Monarch Redux Rockies Bird Festival Arctic Winter Games Bolivia's Acotango Mount Kilimanjaro The Drambuie Pursuit Canadian Aboriginal Festival Mountain Mania Adventure racing Manitoulin Island Star Party Celebration of Light Algonquin Park Ottawa Race Weekend Maple syrup festival Cain's Quest Have Snowshoes, Will Travel Quebec Ice Hotel In the Eye of the Storm Arctic Aurora Borealis Canada's 'Deep South' Agawa Canyon Ablaze Mahone Bay Boat Festival Vancouver Island's rocky trail Wild Women Expeditions Eco-Endurance Summiting Canada Gourmet getaway Yukon Arctic Ultra Canadian Wind Riders Winnipeg's urban pathways Canoeist/artist Bill Mason Take a hike Whitewater kayaking The 2005 Sea Cavalcade Moonstruck - Adventure racers Delta Marsh Birding Festival Climb for conservation The Eagle has Landed Gold Rush Trail Whistler Film Festival Fit to ski Whyte Museum of the Rockies Cheakamus Challenge "Super Dave" Norona Ontario's French River region Cabot Trail Relay Race Point Pelee Festival of Birds Canmore Ice Climbing Festival Winterlude Yeti Mountain Snowshoe Series Golden Horseshoe Orienteering Club Banff Mountain Book Festival Haliburton Highlands Sand Sculpture Championships BC Mobility Society Bathtub Race Championship Bike Month Running off the road Birds of a Feather Grand Plans in Grand Cache Le Festival du Voyageur Raid Ukatak Around the World Alone November culinary adventure Mountains in Miniature In the Belly of the Dragon Raid the North Extreme!! Making a splash! Volunteer for nature Cycling for sustainability Working for Wildlife Whale of a time Canadian Death Race Mont Tremblant Skiing Nanook of the North Eco-challenge Climate Change Caravan Royal Regatta Unleash the hounds World Cup mountain bike race Yukon River Quest On top of the world Canada's World-Class Heritage Gliding across the silver screen Marathon Madness National Ski and Snowboard Week Christmas Bird Count Banff Festival Adventure racing Coast-to-coast trek Whitewater rodeos In praise of parks Watching Canada's wildlife Canada's Highest Peak Alaska Adventure Racer

©iStockphoto.com/Shaun Lowe

Photo courtesy Gordon's Park Eco Resort

Every Thursday evening throughout July and August, the park’s dark-sky site hosts an "astronomy night." For a modest fee, visitors receive starry-sky instruction as well as an orientation on the park’s wide-angle binoculars and eight-inch Dobsonian telescope. But Friday, August 10, 2007, marks the kick off of the annual Manitoulin Star Party where up to 300 summertime astronomers will delight in what proprietors Rita and Terry Gordon call "the darkest skies in Ontario."

Star parties are a time-honoured gathering where amateur astronomers can share their passion while learning about the latest techniques and equipment. At Gordon’s Park, the star party, which runs through August 20, includes public observation sessions and laser-guided sky tours, guest speakers, a question-and-answer forum, an introduction to solar observing, an astrophotography slide show and a barbecue.

The centrepiece of the Manitoulin Star Party is the celebrated Perseid meteor shower. Long dubbed "falling stars," meteors are actually tiny bits of space debris — so small, notes astronomer Terence Dickinson, "that thousands would easily fit in your hand." Typically, the Perseids rain down some 30 to 70 meteors per hour and each one causes a brilliant brief flash as it plunges at a speed of 60,000 kilometres per hour into the Earth’s upper atmosphere. With a new moon on August 12, during the peak meteor occurrence, the 2007 Perseids will be one of the best celestial shows of the year.