A rare opportunity to get up close and personal with the night sky will take place Friday at the city of Ukiah’s Star Party.
The evening starts with “Bounce to the Stars!” which features bounce houses and presentations in an inflatable planetarium led by NASA ambassador and Ukiah resident Elizabeth Garcia.
Later in the evening, Sonoma County’s Robert Ferguson Observatory will offer guided telescope observations led by knowledgeable docents.
Attendees will also get a chance to peek into the Ukiah Latitude Observatory. According to the city, the observatory was one of six built around the world in 1897 to measure the “wobble” of the earth’s axis. No longer used, the building is one of the last that still stands.
Food trucks will also be on hand to fill the bellies of aspiring astronauts.
The city’s two-part Star Party takes place Friday at Observatory Park, 432 Observatory Ave., Ukiah. Bounce to the Stars! takes place from 5 to 8 p.m., followed by stargazing from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.