Starry, Starry Nite at Chase Farm: April 2026
by Jim Hendrickson & Francine Jackson
Weather: Mostly clear, 45°, wind NE
Participants: Francine Jackson, Bob Janus, Jim Hendrickson, John Kocur
Attendees: 22
Observed: Moon, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter, M45
Photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCRYY4
Reports by Jim Hendrickson, Francine Jackson
After a clouded-out Wednesday, and a forecast prospect of only 50% clear sky, we opted to try our first off-site event of 2026 at Chase Farm in Lincoln on Thursday, April 23. We arrived just before sunset, and while Francine set up her presentation in the meeting room, I set up her Astroscan reflector and my 80mm refractor on the observing field to the west of the visitor center.
John Kocur and Bob Janus arrived a few minutes later and set up just a short distance farther up the hill: John with an equatorially-mounted 80mm refractor and Bob with his 8-inch Dobsonian reflector.
At 7:35pm, Francine was introduced by Friends of Hearthside president Kathy Hartley, and she began her presentation “The Mid-April Sky, 2026,” including some featured highlights from the recently concluded Artemis II mission, a few minutes later.
They seemed to like seeing the beautiful images from Artemis, as it brought their attention to the night sky afterward.
The first quarter Moon was high overhead, but a thin layer of cloud obscured it until just around sunset. A thick bank of cloud from west to south remained persistent through the evening, and obscured Venus for some time until just after the presentation concluded and the group came up to the observing field.
While waiting for the guests to come up to the hill, David Cruz, the photographer for Hearthside and Great Road Heritage Campus, was walking around and taking photos during the deepening twilight, and stopped by to chat for a few minutes and show me his Nikon Zf “retro” camera.
A blustery wind from the northeast replaced the warmer and calmer air of the afternoon, as temperatures dropped into the low 40s, but felt much colder with the wind.
The cloud bank in the west descended just enough to spot Venus, to which I turned my 80mm refractor. I used my lowest available magnification to give the widest possible field of view in order to capture the Pleiades in the same view as Venus, the two prominent objects separated by about 4°. This would remain my primary object throughout the evening.
Francine kept her telescope on the first quarter Moon, and David returned later to attempt to take pictures through it.
The calls of a lone killdeer swooping across the field accompanied us for a few minutes, and, despite the rapid decline in temperature, a chorus of peepers could be heard off in the distance to the north.
As the remaining twilight glow faded away, and the cloud bank in the west retreated a bit more, I was able to see the dim but colorless glow of Uranus less than one degree south of Venus. By this time, most of the guests had left, likely due to the cold, but Kathy and Francine enjoyed the view.
Observing concluded just before 9:00pm, and we’re looking forward to returning to Chase Farm on October 27.
