The William D. McDowell Observatory in DeKorte Park begins a month of programming tonight with free public access at 7, 8 and 9 p.m. — weather permitting, of course.

Dress for the weather; with the dome open, you are basically outside.

Each evening at least two major objects in the night sky will be viewed, plus one or two other celestial objects or events depending on the observing conditions.

For more information about free public viewing nights, click here.

For a South Bergenite column by the NJMC's Jim Wright about the observatory, click here.

The answer to yesterday's teaser: Old Crow on ice. 

A Google search shows that we have been beaten to the punch(line). Link is here.

In honor of Groundhog’s Day today, here’s a video we more than two years, before the blog was really up and running.

The one-minute video features a woodchuck looking out of its den on a path in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, when Junior butts in. (Best played with audio on.)

For more information on this abundant Meadowlands mammal, click here.

    Note: We realize that it is a bad idea to take hang out in front of birds’ nests or mammals’ dens in an effort to get a family portrait. The animals feel threatened and cannot escape.   For this video, we used a trick we learned minutes earlier from a professional cameraman: You put the video-cam on a tripod not too far from entrance, hit “record,” and walk away.    Later on, you come back, retrieve the camera  and see what you caught on video. :- )