Harrison Bay to cater to stargazers with ribbon cutting of self-guided Star Walk
In 1937, Harrison Bay became the first Tennessee state park. Since then, it has enticed visitors with 1,200 acres in which to explore and relax, including 40 miles of shoreline along Chickamauga Lake.
Soon, however, its recreational offerings will increase dramatically — some might say “astronomically” — with the grand opening of a Star Walk, a walking path and self-guided stargazing attraction designed to pique visitors’ interest in the cosmos.
The Star Walk is the product of a two-year partnership between the park and Barnard Astronomical Society. Consisting of a half-mile gravel path encompassing 13 observation “stations” with instructions for unaided viewing of phenomena such as planets, constellations and galaxies, the Star Walk is based on the Sternenweg Grossmugl, a similar attraction about 20 miles north of Vienna, Austria.
“[BAS president] Dr. Richard Clements .. took a trip to Austria and visited the Grossmugl star walk,” says BAS member and program chair Matt Harbison. “He thought it was such a great thing that he came back to our society and petitioned to build one.”
The Star Walk is designed to be enjoyed with the naked eye without the need for observational equipment such as telescopes and binoculars. Each placard faces north and contains instructions for finding the designated objects using visual landmarks as a guide.
For those who lack access to sometimes expensive observational equipment, attractions such as the Star Walk help showcase astronomy’s unexpected accessibility, Harbison says.
“I would love to see a star walk in every park in our community,” he says. “This is a simple thing to put up, but it really can foster a lifetime of learning and education.”
On Saturday, Sept. 10, the astronomical society will host a grand-opening celebration for the Star Walk, beginning with BAS members offering access to their solar telescopes to make safe observations of the sun. After a ribbon cutting, area physicists and engineers will begin guided tours including brief discussions of each station’s target of observation.
The grand opening also coincides with the society’s next star party, during which the public is invited to use 10 to 20 “large telescopes” to view a new crop of stellar objects on the second Saturday of each month. These events, which also are hosted at Harrison Bay, regularly draw between 200 and 250 attendees and were partly why the society approached the park as a home for the Star Walk, Harbison says.
For astronomers, he adds, Harrison Bay’s vast acreage and natural beauty aren’t nearly as attractive as its relative lack of light pollution, which dramatically hampers stargazing in most cities.
“Harrison Bay is about a 4 on the Bortle Scale [of light pollution]. Chattanooga is between a 9 and a 7. It’s pretty bad,” Harbison says. “We wanted the Star Walk out someplace that you had a decent view of the Milky Way. You can see the Milky Way there on a clear night.”