Under a quarter moon, Astronomy in the Park drew a good crowd of astronomers and stargazers alike! Despite the ever changing cloud cover, it was a warm and beautiful night to be outside on the fields of NARA Park. We observed Saturn with its rings, Jupiter and 5 of the moons, Dumbbell Nebula with green and red coloration from hydrogen and oxygen gases, Whirlpool Galaxy, Andromeda Galaxy and that beautiful moon! ATMoB had 6 astronomers attending with unique telescopes they had made or adapted. One ACT member brought a personal telescope!
AB STEAM were collaborators and supporters of this event. In addition to advertising the event, they also held a workshop at the library earlier in the day, and worked with the Conservation Department to host a StoryWalk® of “Stars for Starters” by Mildred Nash at Wills Hole Conservation Land.
We are happy that so many families and school age children attended, as Astronomy is part of the 7th grade curriculum!
Many thank you’s to local groups for helping make this a fun and successful event:
- Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston astronomers, who shared their telescopes and patience in answering questions about what we were seeing and how their equipment worked.
- ACT member volunteers for help with setup and cleanup.
- AB STEAM, collaborators and supporters of this event, plus their many volunteers who helped with planning, setup, cleanup and hosting the chili table.
- Trader Joe’s for donations of cookies and other snacks.
- Bagels Plus and Debra’s Natural Gourmet for compostable and recyclable eco bowls and cups.
- Finally, a shout out to Sebastian, for marking the ramp and keeping us safe!