On 25 May 2019, the Fort Union National Monument held one of its Summer “Night Sky Astronomy Program events”. The program included a twilight guided tour of the old fort remnants, an introduction to the night sky and telescope viewing from Fort Union’s Celestron 11 and 8 inch SCTs, and augmented by Santa Fe Stargazer
member’s Brad Jones (C11) and Tom Aldern (10” Dobsonian). Twenty-seven public attendees enjoyed clear, dark skies and calm winds while being introduced to numerous celestial objects including Mizar/Alcor, M3, the Leo Triplet, M13, M57, Jupiter and numerous constellations. The addition of the two Santa Fe Stargazer telescopes ensured that attendees had ample opportunity to observe a variety of objects with minimum wait time. Brad also enjoyed sharing “old star stories” while Tom heard “creative” big bang interpretations from an eight-year-old future astronomer. All agreed the program was a complete success and we look forward to supporting the next scheduled program on 29 June.