The BYU-Idaho Astronomical Society is bringing its telescopes to the St. Anthony Sand Dunes for a stargazing event Saturday, March 21, at 8:30 p.m.

Past gatherings have taken place at other spots, such as the BYUI Agriculture Facilities. This event offers students and community members a new vantage point for observing the night sky.

Students will carpool to the dunes and should meet at the Snow parking lot beforehand.

The society will bring two Bluetooth-enabled telescopes, the Seestar S50 and S30, which connect to a phone app to help users select targets, focus and capture long-exposure images. Each image can take about 30 minutes to process. The app automatically stacks multiple exposures to produce clear photos of celestial objects.

Each telescope will focus on a different object, allowing students to watch the images develop in real time

“These telescopes allow participants to see stars and other objects in the sky that are not visible to the naked eye from Rexburg,” said Leah Wahlquist, president of the Astronomical Society.

While the society usually meets on Wednesdays from 6:30-7:30 p.m., this special event will start at 8:30 p.m. The optimal viewing is expected from around 9 p.m. until midnight.

Students can expect the event to last about two hours and should dress warmly.

Winter skies generally provide more visible constellations and celestial objects, though clouds are more common in this season.

Objects that will be visible include the Orion Nebula, Jupiter (and Jupiter's four Galilean moons), the Andromeda Galaxy, the Pleiades star cluster, the Crab Nebula and several major constellations.

In addition to the telescopes, planetarium operators will be on hand to answer questions and provide context. Participants can learn about constellations, nebulas, galaxies and other astronomical features while observing them firsthand.

“It’s a chance to gain a better understanding of space and how much is out there,” Wahlquist said.