Sep 30, 2021 2 min read

It’s written in the stars: Chartiers-Houston Library will, after a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic, once again host its highly-anticipated Star Party this Saturday in the library’s parking lot.

“It’s always been called the Star Party here, so that’s what the patrons have come to know it as,” said Susan Strnisha, library manager, who inherited the event from her predecessor, Laura Swanson. “It’s just nice to have things going on again inside the library.”

The free events start at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the library’s program room, where a volunteer from the Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh will take attendees on a cosmic journey with fun facts about the sky and tips on how to track celestial objects on smartphones.

“It’s very interesting,” said Richard Dollish, who volunteers with the AAAP and spearheads many of its outreach programs. “The sky hardly changes. It’s the same sky that people have looked at for millennia.”

After the presentation, attendees are invited to stargaze in the library’s parking lot. Equipment is provided by the organization, but guests are welcome to bring their own telescopes.

“There are four planets visible: Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and Neptune is going to be iffy,” said Dollish. “Everyone should see Saturn through a telescope once in their life.”

Strnisha said patrons were over the moon when the Star Party was added to the library’s events calendar, and she is hoping for clear skies Saturday night.

“COVID really hurt the libraries,” Strnisha said. “We’re trying to bounce back from that.”

Said Dollish, “If people are free they should come down and look at some neat stuff.”