Astronomy Day with ASSNE
May 3, 2008 at 1:30 pm
ASTRONOMY DAY 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008 1:30PM to 9:30PM
Barrington Town Hall Lawn
283 County Road, Barrington RI 02806
Sponsored by the Barrington Recreation Department, Brown University, Skyscrapers, Inc. and The Astronomical Society of Southern New England (ASSNE) have come together to provide a FREE day of family fun, education and amazement on Saturday, May 3,2008, weather permitting.
At 1:30PM until 6:00 PM, about a dozen telescopes specially filtered to allow views of our own star—The Sun—will be set up on the Barrington Town Hall Lawn that borders RI Route 114. Children accompanied by their parents are welcome to look at sunspots (if they appear, Solar Weather is as unpredictable as Earth weather) and through specialized Hydrogen-Alpha light telescopes to see solar flares and prominences.
Later, at about 7:30PM, when it is dark enough, about thirty telescopes will be set up to view the planets Mars, Saturn and its moons, and Mercury. The Beehive Cluster, an open and quite lovely star cluster will be observed along with Globular Clusters—that look like diamonds—holding tens of thousands of stars. Asteroids such as 6 Hebe and a quasar may be visible. Galaxies M82 and M81 may also be observed.
Realizing that Barrington’s Astronomy Day has grown in recent years—2007’s Astronomy Day Event drew about 200 daytime visitors and over 1000 at night—ASSNE Event Coordinator Pete Peterson knew he would need help. He contacted the Barrington Recreation Department Director, John Taylor. Barrington has traditionally supported this event and continues to do so. Mr. Peterson wanted to secure the location and forged a partnership with the Recreation Department who sponsors this event.
Next, Mr. Peterson wanted to reduce the long lines that were at each scope the previous year. To do this he enlisted the assistance of Skyscrapers, Inc. also known as the Amateur Astronomical Society of Rhode Island, and Brown University to field astronomers and telescopes. They cheerfully joined and a record number of telescopes will be awaiting the public on the Barrington Town Hall Lawn.
The public is reminded that this is a weather-dependent event and there is no rain date. If it is partly cloudy the event will go on. If it is overcast, or raining, it will not. The public is invited to go to ASSNE’s webpage http://www.assne.org to see if the event has been cancelled. A cancellation notice should appear shortly after noon.
The Astronomical Society of Southern New England is a non-profit club of amateur astronomers who serve Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts with educational outreach programs and public viewing, including operating the observatory at UMass Dartmouth for public viewings. The ASSNE motto is: “To Educate and Inspire.”
For more information about The Astronomical Society of Southern New England, check online at http://www.assne.org/.
For more information about The Amateur Astronomical Society of Rhode Island, check online at http://www.theskyscrapers.org/
For more information about Brown University Astronomy Public Programs, check online at http://physics.brown.edu/physics/commonpages/ladd/
ASTRONOMY DAY 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008 1:30PM to 9:30PM
Barrington Town Hall Lawn
283 County Road, Barrington RI 02806
Sponsored by the Barrington Recreation Department, Brown University, Skyscrapers, Inc. and The Astronomical Society of Southern New England (ASSNE) have come together to provide a FREE day of family fun, education and amazement on Saturday, May 3,2008, weather permitting.
At 1:30PM until 6:00 PM, about a dozen telescopes specially filtered to allow views of our own star—The Sun—will be set up on the Barrington Town Hall Lawn that borders RI Route 114. Children accompanied by their parents are welcome to look at sunspots (if they appear, Solar Weather is as unpredictable as Earth weather) and through specialized Hydrogen-Alpha light telescopes to see solar flares and prominences.
Later, at about 7:30PM, when it is dark enough, about thirty telescopes will be set up to view the planets Mars, Saturn and its moons, and Mercury. The Beehive Cluster, an open and quite lovely star cluster will be observed along with Globular Clusters—that look like diamonds—holding tens of thousands of stars. Asteroids such as 6 Hebe and a quasar may be visible. Galaxies M82 and M81 may also be observed.
Realizing that Barrington’s Astronomy Day has grown in recent years—2007’s Astronomy Day Event drew about 200 daytime visitors and over 1000 at night—ASSNE Event Coordinator Pete Peterson knew he would need help. He contacted the Barrington Recreation Department Director, John Taylor. Barrington has traditionally supported this event and continues to do so. Mr. Peterson wanted to secure the location and forged a partnership with the Recreation Department who sponsors this event.
Next, Mr. Peterson wanted to reduce the long lines that were at each scope the previous year. To do this he enlisted the assistance of Skyscrapers, Inc. also known as the Amateur Astronomical Society of Rhode Island, and Brown University to field astronomers and telescopes. They cheerfully joined and a record number of telescopes will be awaiting the public on the Barrington Town Hall Lawn.
The public is reminded that this is a weather-dependent event and there is no rain date. If it is partly cloudy the event will go on. If it is overcast, or raining, it will not. The public is invited to go to ASSNE’s webpage http://www.assne.org to see if the event has been cancelled. A cancellation notice should appear shortly after noon.
The Astronomical Society of Southern New England is a non-profit club of amateur astronomers who serve Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts with educational outreach programs and public viewing, including operating the observatory at UMass Dartmouth for public viewings. The ASSNE motto is: “To Educate and Inspire.”
For more information about The Astronomical Society of Southern New England, check online at http://www.assne.org/.
For more information about The Amateur Astronomical Society of Rhode Island, check online at http://www.theskyscrapers.org/
For more information about Brown University Astronomy Public Programs, check online at http://physics.brown.edu/physics/commonpages/ladd/