Saturday, 14 June 2025, Oracle State Park, a DarkSky International "International Dark Sky Park", held a Star Party. The sky was clear, providing scenic views of the Park and surrounding areas.

Latin Caribbean Cuisine was available from the DC Jumbie Food Truck. Visitors relaxed with their meals on the historic Kannally Ranch House patio and soaked in the beauty of the Park at sunset. Thanks!

Sam Miller of the DarkSky Southern Arizona Chapter was on hand to educate visitors about Light Pollution and protecting our Night Sky. Thanks Sam!

As the sky became dark about an hour after sunset, members of the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association began showing visiting stargazers incredible views of the planets Mercury and Mars, stars, star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies through their telescopes. Many thanks to them!

Some visitors just wanted to enjoy being outside under the beautiful night sky at Oracle State Park and share the experience with relatives and friends.

Some stargazers were lucky to watch the planet Mercury set in the western sky. Many people never get to see the closest planet to our Sun.

Shortly after 9 PM the Milky Way was visible rising in the eastern sky.

The last of the very enthusiastic 78 visitors left about 10:30 PM with this final view of the Milky Way. Although the night was not as dark as it can be at Oracle State Park (SQM = 21.01), everyone had a great time experiencing our Oracle Night Sky Charm.

Photos by Mike Weasner.

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