Sunday, Sept 27 features an unusual LUNAR TRIPLE PLAY: the Moon and Earth come closest together for all of 2015, there’ll be a lunar eclipse, and it’ll be a full moon.

• The eclipse begins at 6:07 pm.
• The exact "supermoon" moment in 2015 when the Moon will be closest to Earth (a mere 221,753 miles apart) will be 6:46 pm.
  ​... but we won’t actually see that because Moonrise isn’t until 6:54 pm.
• The total eclipse begins at 7:11 pm.
• The Moon will be perfectly full at 7:50 pm.
• The total eclipse ends at 8:23 pm.
• The eclipse ends at 9:27 pm.

I just checked Stardate.org and the weather for Saturday evening ... it'll be nice and warm for the 7 PM Camano Island SP amphitheater program (where you and Dad can learn how to Geocache), then the stargazing party at Cama Beach SP at 9:30 PM should be great. My SkyGuide app says the quarter-moon, Jupiter, and Venus will form a beautiful, tight triangle in the western sky. 

Grab Dad and your Discover Pass and head over to the State Parks!

The Saturday Evening Amphitheater Summer Program starts on May 23rd with: "Life as a Filmmaker" presented by Rick Wood.
Meet at the Camano Island State Park Amphitheater at 7 PM.

Rick Wood, documentary filmmaker of the award-winning film "Fragile Waters", will discuss his personal story of how at age 39 in 2011 he threw his life into filmmaking. The resulting 2015 movie tells the complete story of the perils facing Southern Resident Orca whales and chinook salmon.

For more info contact Tina Dinzl-Pederson at (360) 387-3342.

Remember to bring your Discover Pass for parking. For info about the Discover Pass: www.parks.wa.gov/167/Discover-Pass-Fees

Tonight the first quarter Moon is in the constellation Cancer. The Moon will form a very pretty pair with Jupiter, which will be a bit higher in the night sky. Down lower just above the western horizon, Venus will be very bright.

If the sky is clear, stop by Cama Store tonight at 8:30 and grab a view of the sky through our 8" Dobsonian style telescope.

Attention lovers of Puget Sound. Tickets are now on sale for the annual “Puget Sound Starts Here Night with the Seattle Mariners”. This year the game is on Saturday, May 16 and the M’s are playing the Boston Red Sox – always an intense series but after the Super Bowl, we have really want to cheer on our hometown team. 
The M’s have given us a great deal on tickets – they are just $16 for View Level and $31 for Main Level seats. The special PSSH tickets are only available online at http://Mariners.com/PugetSound. For more details: www.snohomishcountywa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/22948

Stargazing is a favorite pastime at Camano Island SP and Cama Beach SP. Here is the list of best binoculars for astronomy as compiled by "Space.com".

Be sure to check out the $30 Celestron Cometron!!

Wowie Zowie Batman, it was really windy at Cama early Sunday morning. The Cama weather station recorded 60 MPH gusts at 1:00 AM and 1:05 AM.

Starlight Beach Walk
Cama Beach State Park
Fri Jan 2 at 8:00 pm

After you park, walk down the road (past Cama Center) to the southern end of the beach. Park volunteers will be on hand to help you identify intertidal animals. The tide will be a -1.1 at 9:02 pm so you may see chitons, sea anemones, nudibranchs, crabs, seastars, moon snails, barnacles, and more. See what impact the Seastar Wasting Syndrome virus has had on our intertidal seastar populations.

Dress warmly, wear waterproof boots or sturdy shoes (walking on beach cobbles and rocks can be difficult). Bring one bright flashlight per person (also bring extra fresh batteries). These walks are very informal. You can head home at any time.

The weather forecast looks OK, but the walk may be cancelled if the weather turns foul. To check status, call 360.387.0846 after 5:00 pm on Jan 2.

The Geminids will peak between December 13 and 14 in 2014. Northern Hemisphere observers should try their luck right after dark. Even though a 3rd quarter Moon may make it too bright for city observers to view the shower, at Cama, with the predicted clear skies, we should see lots of shooting stars.

If you can’t see the Geminids in your area, join NASA’s live stream.

"There will be a pretty good chance to see the northern lights [Friday] because of the first geomagnetic storm Thursday night," Outten said. "It's good timing."

Outten said that with northern light displays, the best viewing will occur around midnight in each respective time zone, but that they will start being visible after night falls.

"[Some] people won't have to stay up late to see them, but it will get better throughout the night," he said.