The ChesMont Astronomical Society (CAS) will present StarFest 2022 on Saturday, Aug. 20, from 6 to 11 p.m. at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, located at 2 Mark Bird Lane, Elverson. The program will feature speakers, astronomy presentations and children's activities. The public will also be able to view the night sky through more than 20 amateur and high-powered telescopes. Admission and parking are free, but donations will be accepted.

Because of the pandemic, StarFest was canceled in 2020 and 2021. "We did virtual events, but this is our first live event since 2019," said CAS member Robert Cordivari, who is event co-chair along with Mary Howe. "We're very excited. We want people to know we are back live."

StarFest will open at 6 p.m. for solar observing and telescope setup. Attendees will also be able to meet the astronomers and check out their telescopes.

Opening remarks will be offered at 7 p.m., after which children's author Julia Kregenow will read from her book "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, I Know Exactly What You Are."

The keynote speaker will be Jason Wright, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State University, who will talk about his work studying exoplanets, life in the universe and SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). He will discuss the development of a SETI curriculum and the recently founded Penn State Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center.

All attendees will be given free tickets to win door prizes, such as small telescopes and binoculars, which will be given out throughout the evening. The grand prize drawing for a high-powered telescope will be awarded at approximately 9:15 p.m. The telescope, valued at $500, was donated by Celestron.

Public stargazing will begin after the drawing. Participants will be able to view objects such as planets, star clusters, globular clusters, double stars and supernova remnants. "The highlight of the evening will be 10 Object Row; 10 of our members' telescopes will be focused on a different deep-sky object so the public gets a variety of astronomical objects to look at," explained Cordivari. "People can go down the row in any order. There will also be other telescopes set up that are not part of the 10 Object Row."

Since a limited number of chairs will be available, attendees are welcome to bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating during the speaker presentations. A food truck will be on-site.

The rain/cloud date for StarFest 2022 is Sunday, Aug. 21. Cancellation information will be posted at http://www.chesmontstarfest.com.

CAS is a nonprofit amateur astronomy club devoted to raising awareness of astronomy and to educating the general public about light pollution and preserving the night sky. More information about the club and upcoming observing events can be found at http://www.chesmontastro.org. For more information, visit the previously mentioned websites or search for "Chesmont Astronomical Society observing+" on Facebook.