(First 4 photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand)

Tonight’s sunset was the first of fall 2015, and a West Seattle tradition continued – watching the season’s first sunset from Solstice Park, where special markers line up with where the sun sets at the seasonal switchovers.

Sky-watchers arriving for the fall-equinox sunset watch organized by NASA Solar System Ambassador Alice Enevoldsen tried lining up in just the right spot to see their shadows. The park’s markers themselves were an attraction this time around:

They were missing during the summer-solstice sunset watch, in the shop for touchups, but returned in plenty of time for tonight’s event. Alice herself was just back from Oregon.

There, we learned from her @AlicesAstroInfo Twitter feed, she watched the Perlan 2 near-space glider on a test flight from Redmond, Oregon:

Her grandfather heads the team. Back to Solstice Park – one more look at Alice’s equinox gathering – this photo is courtesy of Scott Scowcroft:

She’s been doing this quarterly for more than five years now – making the change of seasons a little more meaningful for everyone who attends.

P.S. Another big sky-watching event is coming up this Sunday night – a total eclipse of the moon, which will start just after 6 pm, even before the moon rises in the east in our area. Stay tuned for more on that!