Neighbors in the Sawgrass Pointe community at Hayes, observed its first International/Virginia Dark Sky Night on Sunday during the week of the new moon in April.

Many community residents lowered their exterior lighting between 7 and 9:30 p.m. for those observing Dark Sky to have better viewing. Neighbors gathered in the waning evening light to observe the changes in the sky and view the appearance of the stars. The constellations were evident thereafter.

“It was a modest gathering of 10 neighbors—but a beginning,” said resident Jennifer Matthews. “There was laughter and camaraderie with squeals of delight in getting the eye aligned with the telescope eyepiece and seeing the wonders of the universe.” The group was guided by neighbors who used a telescope to show three moons of Jupiter in the Western Sky; the Big Dipper, and the Pleiades Open Cluster of stars with its prominent chain of stars.

Other attendees used astronomy phone apps, when open and pointed to the sky, would id...