Take a buddy and learn about the night sky.  The winner of this item will receive a certificate good for 2 night sky classes offered by the Valley of the Moon Observatory Association.

Nestled in the hills near Kenwood, California, 
in Sugar Loaf Ridge State Park 
at Longitude, West 122° 30' 28" (-122.5078)
and Latitude, North 38° 26' 18" (+38.4385)
Elevation 1275', lies - - -
Northern California's most active observatory.

What: These classes are designed for everyone from total beginners to experienced amateur observers. Whether you are just starting out and want to learn the constellations, or have a scope and want to expand your knowledge of viewing objects, the classes have something for you. The focus is on learning to appreciate the night sky in a "geographic" sense... appreciating our solar system, spiral arm, Milky Way, and local galaxy cluster neighborhoods... when looking up into the night sky!

Basic technical topics are repeated in each of the three seasonal series so that the ideas become clearer and more familiar. For each constellation, myths, history, star patterns, named stars, interesting and significant stars, and deep sky objects are presented and explained briefly. Major solar system objects are presented when they are viewable (and all are presented over the course of a year). One class in summer is devoted entirely to the moon. The observing time after class builds upon the concepts presented in the lectures.

Detailed informational handouts are provided at each class. These may serve as excellent reference materials for all types of observing. The handouts are compiled from a large number of sources, and the observatory strives to make certain that they are useful, accurate, and up-to-date.

Persons who take all three of the seasonal Night Sky series (18 classes altogether) will learn the entire sky viewable from our northern latitude. (The winter sky is split between the Fall and Spring Series.)