Arlington
Astronomy Nights '09
at
Robbins Farm Park
This summer there will be a series of Astronomy Nights at
Robbins Farm
Park. Each night we'll have at least one telescope out to
view objects in the night sky. We'll have a specific target
object each time, but with a sky full of stars, we won't be limited to just that one. The events are
totally informal and fun for all ages. Weather permitting,
the dates are as follows:
- May 30th (~9:15pm): Come by for a glimpse of Saturn and
its rings. Saturn is tilting such that the rings will disappear
from our view later this year. If you came last year, think about
how it looked and compare it to this time!
- June 27th (~9:30pm): Explore the deep sky! From double
stars to globular clusters, we'll see what we can pick out through the
light pollution. We'll use a telescope to spot the faint things,
and you can try bringing binoculars to spot brighter ones. We'll
also catch the moon as it sets.
- August 8th (~9:15pm): We'll look at the closest object in
the night sky: the Moon! A
telescope helps bring the moon's craters and "seas" to life.
Bring some
binoculars to help you find what you see in the telescope.
- September 12th (~7:30pm): If Jupiter is high enough in the sky,
we'll look at the giant planet and
spot some of its moons. See if you can make out the different stripes of color/shades of grey across the planet!
Each Astronomy Night will start when the stars come out.
If
it is overcast we'll have to cancel, but as long as there are some
stars visible we'll give it a shot. The telescopes will be
set up on the observation area that overlooks Boston.
Please note:
it will be dark in the park! Bring a flashlight, but please
keep it aimed at the ground while you're in the park. It
takes your eyes a while to adjust to the dark, and you'll see more in
the sky once your night vision is working. Keeping your
flashlight pointed at the ground helps everybody keep their eyes
adjusted to the dark. Red light doesn't hurt night vision as
much so a red flashlight or red cellophane over a flashlight helps a
lot!
If you have questions, feel free to contact me at jalex [at]
landmanatee [dot] com.
