Take a road trip under the stars and head to exquisite visions of the night skies at Town Creek Indian Mound at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17.

It's the brightest planet in the sky -- and so big it takes 1,000 Earths to equal its volume. Jupiter has over 60 moons of its own.

The night will also offer an even better opportunity to view the challenging planet Uranus as it is close to Earth.

"The Uwharrie National Forest and the Indian Heritage Trail Scenic Byway are nearby and offer great places to picnic, hike, and see fall color for the afternoon," says State Historic Site Manager Rich Thompson. "And at night, people have discovered that this is one of the best stargazing places to be in North Carolina."

Skywatching enthusiasts will be able to view the cloudy trail of the Milky Way through the site's 12-inch Dobsonian telescope, which is suitable for visually observing "deep sky" objects.

View such favorite autumn constellations as Pegasus, the winged horse, and Cassiopeia and Andro-meda.

"We kind of hitchhike around the sky and can usually identify what people are seeing," says Thompson.

The monthly series of Town Creek Indian Mound astronomy programs offers upcoming opportunities to observe celestial objects: Saturday, Nov. 14, for the Leonid Meteor Shower and Saturday, Dec. 12 for the Geminid Meteor Shower.

The program is free. To register in advance, call the site at (910) 439-6802 or e-mail towncreek@ncdcr.gov. Stargazers are encouraged to bring along their own telescopes and binoculars to share with others.

The mission of Town Creek Indian Mound is to interpret the history of the American Indians who once lived there 1000 years ago. A national historic landmark, Town Creek Indian Mound State Historic Site is North Carolina's only state historic site dedicated to American Indian heritage.

The State Historic Site, one of 27, is located on Town Creek Mound Road, approximately five miles east of Mt. Gilead, in southern Montgomery County between N.C. 73 and N.C. 731.

For information, visit www towncreek.nchistoricsites.org.