The folks at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales say they're expecting clear skies for their second annual "HARMONY Dark Sky Festival & Star Party" Saturday, January 13 from 4 to 9:30 p.m.
More than 2,000 people flocked to the event last year. And this year, there will be a mobile planetarium and a special astronomy-inspired carillon concert, as well as nocturnal animal encounters.
Bok Tower Marketing Director Erica Smith said the goal of the event is to teach people who live in busier, light-filled places how important dark skies are.
"We are bringing in one of the premier scientists who does research on how light pollution affects humans. So, our keynote speaker is Dr. Richard Stevens, author of A Modern Marvel Turned Urban Blight and he is really looking at is there a link between health issues and light pollution," she said.
The International Dark-Sky Association reports that more than 80 percent of the people in the world live under light-polluted skies and it's having a detrimental effect on the majority of Americans.
Other speakers at the event include Russell Romanella of NASA, and Joshual Colwell, Planetary Scientist and University of Central Florida Professor of Physics.
Click here for a list of the specific events.
