/EINPresswire.com/ -- CALGARY, AB--(Marketwired - October 31, 2016) - The Dark Night, Star Light event at the RAO is an annual "lights out" event, featuring the RAO's initiatives to preserve the wilderness of the night, whose very existence illustrates the lore and legends that are still told across cultures.

Visitors are invited to experience an evening of skylore under the first quarter moon with Cree storyteller Wilford Buck, science specialist with the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre in Winnipeg. The University of Calgary Native Centre representatives will be welcoming Mr. Buck with drumming and singing.

Roland Dechesne and Jason Nishiyama will be presenting "The Solar System and Its Place in the Universe, How We Know What Know: Astronomy's Journey of Discovery."

Maintaining dark skies is essential to the research being conducted at the RAO. Director Phil Langill will discuss the impacts of light pollution on astronomical research, and present a few simple changes to lighting design that can make a positive impact. Games, give-aways and astronomical puzzles are part of this annual event to turn out the lights.

Under the clear, dark sky conditions, the Andromeda galaxy, the galaxy nearest to the Milky Way, is visible in the east.

Visitors will have the opportunity to look through the RAO's array of telescopes (weather permitting), with astronomers from the University of Calgary and members of the Royal Astronomical Society on hand to answer questions.

Learn more about the RAO online at http://www.ucalgary.ca/rao/ or on Twitter @RAOastronomy.

What: Dark Night Star Light Open House: Presentation and viewing through RAO telescopes

Who: University of Calgary, Physics and Astronomy

Where: Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, on the east side of Highway 22, 2.4 km south of the Hwy 22 and Hwy 22x interchange

When: Saturday November 5, 2016 - 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. **Please dress for the weather**

Cost: $20 per car or $10 per person. All proceeds go to the RAO's educational programming.

About the University of Calgary
The University of Calgary is making tremendous progress on its journey to become one of Canada's top five research universities, where research and innovative teaching go hand in hand, and where we fully engage the communities we both serve and lead. This strategy is called Eyes High, inspired by the university's Gaelic motto, which translates as 'I will lift up my eyes.'

For more information, visit ucalgary.ca. Stay up to date with University of Calgary news headlines on Twitter @UCalgary and in our media centre at ucalgary.ca/mediacentre