Learning to stargaze with Eitan
Learning to stargaze with EitanEitan Schwartz

Looking for something fun and kosher to do with the family after the Sabbath in Eilat? How about spending the night watching a velvety black sky full of shooting stars along with an astronomer as your tour guide? 

In Eilat, astronomer Eitan Schwartz decided to cut his normal fees in half, and did the same with the family price in order to make sure that anyone could have the opportunity to enjoy the upcoming Perseids meteor shower.

"It's something no one should miss,” Schwartz told Arutz Sheva in a telephone interview this week. “I wanted to make sure it could be affordable – the family price stays the same whether parents bring two children, or they bring 18. It doesn't matter. I think that families should learn about the sky, and the Perseids meteor shower is spectacular.”

The heavenly event is set to take place Saturday night, August 11, when people around the world will be able to just look up at the sky at night, and watch the show of shooting stars.

But as with many things, some will have a better vantage point than others, and better equipment with which to watch the show.

Schwartz is one of those.  At his “What's Up” observatory in Eilat, the astronomer has a color video camera that can identify deep sky objects (DSO), he says, in ways the naked eye cannot.

He will be bringing that camera to a site near Be'er Ora, about 10 kilometers north of Eilat, “about a ten minute ride through the Eilat mountains,” as he describes it,” to guide participants in watching the Perseids meteors streaking through the sky.

He has billed the event as a 'quiet night of Stargazing explanations, discussions and fun educational activities for all ages.” Participants are being invited to “sleep under the stars,” and are even told they can “build a camp fire” but are admonished to “please keep the area clean.” For more information, call Eitan at 054-481-9973, and please note that reservations are necessary.