Visitors will gather in Patten Saturday night for Friends of Katahdin Woods and Waters' annual celebration of the area's dark skies and stars.
The Katahdin Region has the darkest skies east of the Mississippi River, and the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument is an International Dark Sky Sanctuary.
Astronomer John Meader is among the educators that will be at Stars over Katahdin. He said dark skies are important for wildlife, bird migration, insects, human health, and, of course, to keep the stars visible.
"And the cool thing is, as it gets darker, the stars get brighter- you see more and more of them," Meader said. "The fainter ones show up. The detail, the Milky Way starts showing up, and it makes a really beautiful sky."
He said even compared to many other areas of Maine, the skies near Katahdin are visibly darker- making stars and the Milky Way brighter and clearer.
"And the fact is, most people don't see the stars, because most people live in very urban areas where you the amount of stars is really decreased," Meader said. "And so we're just trying to make people aware that there are a lot more stars out there than what you may be seeing from your home in Portland or Bangor, or Lewiston-Auburn."
Astronomers use the nine-point Bortle scale to measure dark skies, Meader said. A nine on the scale is like standing in Times Square in New York City while a one is like gazing up from Antarctica. The Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument — the darkest sky east of the Mississippi River — is a two.
