July 25, 2007

The Perseid Meteor shower is the special guest for VPR's Eye on the Sky Star Gazing Party on Burke Mountain, Sunday August 12, 2007. The party consists of summer fun and a barbecue beginning at 7 p.m. with a live broadcast tour of the cosmos at 9 p.m. VPR's Mitch Wertlieb, Eye on the Sky's Mark Breen and science journalist Andy Chaiken will be your guide to the stars. If you can't be at Burke, just take your radio outside, tune to VPR and look up! The Eye on the Sky Star Gazing Party is produced by Vermont Public Radio in collaboration with the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium and Burke Mountain.

Star gazers of all ages are invited! Come at 7 p.m. for volleyball, Frisbee, barbecue and mingling with other star gazers. Then at 9 p.m., Mitch Wertlieb hosts VPR's broadcast with Mark Breen and Andy Chaikin talking about what can be seen in the night's sky. Questions from the audience at Burke Mountain as well as listener call-ins will be answered live during the broadcast.

Listeners can call 1-800-639-2211 during the broadcast to ask their question, or, e-mail their question to vpr.net before August. 10. A star chart, information about star-gazing in general, and more information about this event, including directions to Burke Mountain, are available on vpr.net.

The Perseid Meteor Shower will be at its peak for this evening of astronomical fun. If the skies are cloudy, the event and broadcast will be moved to Monday, August 13, 2007.

Mark Breen is an Eye on the Sky meteorologist heard on VPR. Breen also hosts VPR's Eye on the Night Sky, a 90-second program that airs weekdays at 4:30 p.m., detailing what one can view in tonight's sky. Both programs are produced by Vermont Public Radio in collaboration with the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium. Breen is a meteorologist at the Fairbanks and its planetarium director. The Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium is northern New England's premiere museum of natural history.

Andrew Chaikin is an advisor to Eye on the Night Sky. An acclaimed science journalist, Chaikin is best known as the author of A Man on the Moon: The Triumphant Story of the Apollo Space Program, which was the basis for Tom Hanks' HBO miniseries, From the Earth to the Moon.

VPR's Eye on the Sky Star Gazing Party airs twice a year. It is made possible by the Partnership for a Nation of Learners, a Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Institute of Museum and Library Services leadership initiative.

Vermont Public Radio is Vermont's only state-wide source for NPR News, classical music, jazz and award winning local news programming. VPR can be heard at 107.9 FM in Burlington, 89.5 FM in Windsor, 88.7 FM in Rutland, 88.5 FM in Saint Johnsbury, 94.3 FM in Bennington, 92.5 in Manchester, 94.5 in Brattleboro, 95.3 in Middlebury, and 94.1 in Montpelier. VPR can also be heard online at VPR.net.