Stargazers unite: Nebraska Star Party draws hundreds to Valentine

VALENTINE, Neb. - From Virginia to Illinois and Idaho, hundreds of people from all over the country are gathering at Merritt Reservoir near Valentine for the Nebraska Star Party. The event started Sunday and runs through Friday.

“These are some of the darkest skies on the planet. It’s wonderful,” Attendee Matthew Bielski said.

In fact, Merritt is certified as an International Dark Sky Park because of its lack of light pollution.

“We need dark skies to have contrast to see faint galaxies,” Vello Tabur said.

Tabur might just take home the prize for the longest journey.

“I’m an astronomer from Australia. I wanted to see the northern sky,” Tabur said.

While Tabur is modest about his celestial credentials, his friend from Michigan points out that Tabor is a star when it comes to the skies.

“He didn’t give you the whole story. He’s a retired astrophysicist. He’s a comet hunter that has discovered three comets and had them named after him. In the process of discovering those comets, he wrote papers on a specific type of variable star,” Bielski said.

However, you don’t have to be an astronomy expert to come to the event. There are even classes aimed at beginners.

“We have a large contingency of people who show up who do astroimaging, astrophotography,” Nebraska Star Party Director of Outreach and Promotions John Johnson said.

Take a look at some of attendee Jasonn Pellegrini’s work:

 

 

 

 

“They love coming out here and being able to take pictures of the Milky Way and distant galaxies,” Johnson said.

“There’s so much light pollution these days that it’s hard to find a place that’s this dark,” Bielski said.

Dark skies that draw in stargazers from all over the world.

“People from the southern hemisphere would say we have the brightest stars and most interesting objects to look at, but I’ve come to verify that myself,” Tabur said.

And as the stars twinkle above Merritt, it seems the cosmos are eager to prove the south wrong.

Next year's Nebraska Star Party is planned for July 20-25 at Merritt.