Cheap heads to Mars

Mars Mania Star Parties

Sept. 5, 6

Free

It costs about $20 million to buy a seat on a… Mars Mania Star Parties

Sept. 5, 6

Free

It costs about $20 million to buy a seat on a Russian rocket. That’s more than most people, including *NSYNC’s Lance Bass, who wasn’t able to collect the sum this past year, are able to spend. Now there’s a cheaper way to see the stars, and you don’t even have to leave terra firma.

This Friday and Saturday, Sept. 5 and 6, the Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh will hold Mars Mania Star Parties at the Nicholas E. Wagman Observatory at Deer Lakes Regional Park. The observatory, located approximately 18 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, is holding the parties in honor of Mars’ close proximity to the Earth. Aug. 27 marked the closest Mars has been in almost 60,000 years. This closeness allows sky watchers to more easily view features on the planet, often using only a standard, store-bought telescope or even binoculars.

In addition to looking at Mars, partygoers will have the opportunity to view the gibbous moon along with the arrays of stars in the summer and autumn skies as the heavens go through a transition between seasons.

The Mars Mania Star Parties are also the perfect opportunity to dig that old telescope – the one you got as a gift for your 11th birthday but never opened – out of the closet. If you don’t know how to use it, the members of the Amateur Astronomers Association would be more than glad to help you figure it out.

The parties start at 7:45, weather permitting. For more information, call the observatory at (724) 224-2510 or look at the Web site of the AAAP at trfn.clpgh.org/aaap.