For the fourth time the nationwide event series ‘A Week under the Stars’ will be held in Hungary, during which nearly 150 astronomical programmes will be in store for enthusiasts across the country from 3 to 13 August, as announced by the Svábhegy Observatory on Wednesday.
The event series offers spectacular and exciting adventures for both young and old during the August meteor shower period, the organisers highlighted. The programmes include telescope demonstrations, astronomical lectures, and meteor-watching sessions. The initiative aims to provide as many people as possible with the experience of observing the starry sky. According to the organisers’ statement, during the expanded 11-day campaign, it will be possible to observe the Saturn’s ring system, the summer sky nebulae and star clusters, and, next to the waning moon, the conditions will be excellent to ‘catch’ the members of the Perseids meteor shower. The peak of the Perseids is on 12 August, when, under ideal conditions, one can observe even a dozen shooting stars in the sky.
As the observatory wrote, the Zselic and Hortobágy starry sky parks, the Danube banks in Szentendre, and the ancient juniper grove in Barcs will offer a unique environment for stargazing. At Lake Balaton, meteor hunters can go to Tagyon, Balatonfűzfő, and Balatonrendes. The Margó Festival in Zala and the libraries in Szentes and Békéscsaba offer astronomy-related cultural programmes, while in Dombóvár, Nyíregyháza, and Miskolc people can peek through telescopes from the city centres. In Szolnok, one has to ‘climb’ to the 24th floor to reach the stars, while in Csömör and Sülysáp, the organisers invite participants for night hikes.
In Budapest and its surroundings, telescopes will be waiting for visitors at the Levendulapark in Újpest and the Polaris Observatory in Óbuda, as well as in Százhalombatta, Gyál, and at Normafa on János-hegy in Buda.
The main sponsor of the event series, the Svábhegy Observatory in Budapest, is preparing for the 12 August meteor shower with a special ‘Star Gate’ event, where there is no attendance limit this time, and welcomes visitors from 5 PM.
Detailed information about series can be found on its website as well as on the Svábhegy Observatory’s website.
