On Nov. 18, 1999, a NASA-supported rocket went up from Ninigret Park. It was part of Project Comet Chaser, an effort to study dust from the Leonid meteor shower. Local students helped put together the payload, as The Westerly Sun recounted this month. Before the launch, Frosty Drew Observatory wrote that the payload was meant to catch dust from comet Tempel-Tuttle, the source of the Leonids. It also noted that its dome stood less than a quarter mile from the launch site.
That launch site is one stop on this fall's Charlestown 250 scavenger hunt. It also explains how the rest of the year lines up. The Charlestown 250 Commission's last two events and the observatory's darkest stretch of the year happen in the same weeks, around the same park. The commission's final event, the time capsule burial at Town Hall, falls on Dec. 14, the date Frosty Drew's Geminid overnight runs into.
The hunt runs out Monday, and Frosty Drew is one of the stops
The town-wide historical scavenger hunt runs through October. Hunters look for 25 locations, each marked with a flyer labeled "Charlestown Scavenger Hunt" and a numeric code. Commission chair Philip Gingerella told the Sun that most of the codes are tied to the history of the site, such as the year a building was built. The Sun names the General Stanton Inn, Carolina Baptist Church and Frosty Drew Observatory among the stops. The full list of 25 is on a flyer posted to the commission's Facebook page.
One site was taken off the list. The Carolina Gristmill didn't work logistically, so the commission posted its code, "1802," on Facebook. Every location has off-street parking, and the private owners on the list agreed to take part.
Here's what to know before the deadline:
- Deadline: Monday, Nov. 2. Turn in completed forms at the Parks and Recreation office at Town Hall or email them to Gingerella at [email protected]. The same address works if you can't find a flyer.
- Prizes: Anyone who finds all 25 codes and turns in a form is entered in a raffle. Two winners each get a beach pass for summer 2027, and other prizes include gift cards and swag bags.
- Who can play: Anyone. You don't need to live in Charlestown.
On Oct. 30, the observatory runs its own hunt
Frosty Drew holds Spooky Views on Friday, Oct. 30. That puts a second scavenger hunt at a stop on the first one, four days before the town's deadline. The observatory's hunt is laid out for kids and adults and leads visitors around the campus.
The evening runs from 6:00 to 10:30 p.m. in two ticketed sessions, one starting at 6:00 and one at 8:30. Admission is $5 per person. Here's how the night goes:
- Telescopes point at Saturn and more early in the evening. Later in the night they turn to planetary nebulae, which the observatory calls "the ghostly remnants of dying stars."
- Story time for kids is under the willow at 6:15 and again at 8:45.
- The Sky Theatre plays Orson Welles' original 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast at 7:00 and again at 9:15, with images on screen and props.
Everyone older than four needs a ticket. Tickets have to be bought online in advance, can't be refunded, and are good for only one session. The event goes on in any weather, but the telescopes only open if the sky allows. Frosty Drew describes the night as a send-off for "the lighter half of the year" as the darker half begins. The rest of this calendar falls in that darker half.
November is Friday nights, plus one Monday
Once the hunt closes, the commission has nothing scheduled until December. Frosty Drew's regular Stargazing Nights cover the gap on Fridays: Nov. 6, 13 and 20, then Dec. 4 and 11. Each runs from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and costs $5 per person age five and older.
On these nights, plan around the day of the event, not the week before. The observatory's visitor page says tickets are required for Friday Stargazing Nights from May through December. They usually go on sale the day before or the day of the event, once the weather call has been made. In bad weather, a Friday can still run from 7:00 to 9:00 with presentations, exhibits and observatory tours, just without the telescopes. Dangerous weather can cancel it.
NASA lists the night of Nov. 16–17 as the 2026 Leonid peak, a Monday into Tuesday. The American Meteor Society gives the same night and puts the Moon at 41% illuminated, at first quarter. It notes that moonlight can wash out fainter meteors while the Moon is above the horizon. These are the same meteors Project Comet Chaser went up to study, and that launch came on Nov. 18. This year's peak falls a day and a half short of the 27th anniversary.
If you spend daylight hours around the salt ponds that week, check the refuge schedule. The Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge asks trail users to wear orange during archery deer season. Its Ninigret Salt Pond Unit is scheduled to close Nov. 14–15 for the annual Veterans Deer Hunt. The beach side stays open. The state says East Beach and its permitted sand trail remain open while the barrier beach restoration continues, with work areas posted.
The capsule and the Geminids share a date
Charlestown was incorporated in 1738. The town's Charlestown 250 page explains that the year of events marks the United States' 250th birthday in 2026 and Charlestown's last 250 years of history. The Oct. 13 Town Council agenda lists two remaining events, the October scavenger hunt and the time capsule burial at Charlestown Town Hall on Dec. 14. The town hasn't yet announced a time for the burial, what goes into the capsule, or when it's meant to be opened.
Frosty Drew's Geminid program runs overnight just before it, from 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13, to 2:00 a.m. Monday, Dec. 14. Admission is $5 per person age five and older. The observatory calls the Geminids possibly the best meteor shower of the year. The meteors are bright, often with a greenish tint, and leave long-lasting trails.
This year the Moon is cooperating. Frosty Drew expects a 20% waxing crescent that sets at 8:30 p.m. The American Meteor Society puts it slightly lower, at 17%, and also calls conditions favorable. The plan is to open the 24-inch telescope at 6:30 for nebulae and galaxies, then close it and move everyone outside as the meteors pick up. The observatory's packing list is specific: winter coats, long johns, thick socks, hats, gloves, good winter shoes, and a blanket to lie on or a reclining chair.
In 1999, a quarter mile from that dome, students readied a payload to go up into Leonid dust. On Dec. 14, the date the Geminid overnight ends, the town puts a 250th-year capsule into the ground at Town Hall.
"It's been a successful year - several things were a huge success and some of them were either hit or miss. Our biggest achievement was the party we threw on July 9 at Ninigret Park, that could not have come together better. We had about 5,000 people attend."
Gingerella said that to The Westerly Sun when looking back on the commission's year, which also included a few rainouts.
Four nights after the burial, Frosty Drew holds its Holiday Stargazing Spectacular on Friday, Dec. 18, from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. There will be holiday decorations, seasonal music and telescope views of the Moon, planets, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies. Admission is $5 per person. Sessions start at 7:00 and 8:00, everyone older than four needs a ticket, and telescope viewing depends on the sky. The observatory already has a Stargazing Night on its calendar for Friday, Jan. 1, 2027.
Dates to keep through mid-December
- Fri., Oct. 30: Spooky Views at Frosty Drew, 6:00–10:30 p.m., $5, tickets online in advance.
- Mon., Nov. 2: Charlestown 250 scavenger hunt forms due at the Town Hall Parks and Recreation office or by email.
- Fri., Nov. 6, 13 and 20: Stargazing Nights, 7:00–9:00 p.m., $5, tickets after the weather call.
- Sat.–Sun., Nov. 14–15: Ninigret Salt Pond Unit closed for the Veterans Deer Hunt.
- Night of Mon., Nov. 16: Leonid peak, with a first-quarter Moon.
- Fri., Dec. 4 and 11: Stargazing Nights, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
- Sun., Dec. 13, into Mon., Dec. 14: Under the Geminids, 6:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., $5, dress for the cold.
- Mon., Dec. 14: Charlestown 250 time capsule burial at Town Hall, time to be announced.
- Fri., Dec. 18: Holiday Stargazing Spectacular, 7:00–10:00 p.m., $5.
We keep calendars like this one because we live and work along this stretch of shoreline too. If you have questions about Charlestown, from how the town runs in the off-season to what owning near Ninigret Park looks like the rest of the year, Town & Shore Realty is glad to talk it through. Schedule a free consultation.
