GloucesterAstronomy

October 13 Meeting of the Gloucester Area Astronomy Club

~ Michael Deneen

Our 8:00 Friday October 13 GAAC meeting, at the Lanesville Community Center, will feature a wide-ranging talk by UMass Lowell Physics Professor Supriya Chakrabarti, director of the Lowell Center for Space Science and Technology.

Professor Chakrabarti, who’s made a career of explaining science, will review a series of UMass Lowell astrophysics and space science research projects, including the development, with student participation, of new instruments that are used with ground, balloon, and space-based platforms (including the Hubble), and MASTS, a “one-stop support system for innovators working on small spacecraft,” with partners from academia, industry and government.

We hope you can join us at 8:00 pm on October 13 at the Lanesville Community Center. There’s plenty of free parking, and there is no cost. This promises to be a really fun night, with an accessible, varied program on current science, great snacks, great conversation, and friends old and new. If skies are clear, you’ll get a chance to view Saturn and (possibly) Jupiter after the meeting.

Gloucester Area Astronomy Club Meeting, Friday, August 11: Astrophotography Night in Lanesville!

~ Michael Deneen
Image credit Phil Orbanes

Our August 11 GAAC meeting, at 8:00 pm at the Lanesville Community Center, will feature our annual, always-popular Astrophotography program, a series of presentations by our  photographers, each showing off some of their most compelling work. 

This will be an opportunity for you to experience locally-captured images of galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters in a bright, large format on our screen, with explanations of what we’re all seeing and what is important about it. 

We’ve also added an important new introduction to the program. This year our own professional explainer Dr. Bill Waller, late of Rockport High School, will tell us up front, in plain language, what some of those baffling initials the photographers use actually mean. Knowing what head-scratchers like Ha, RGB, O3, or RASA are all about can help you see more in each astronomical object, and understand more about the process of capturing its image.

We hope you can join us at the Lanesville Community Center on the 11th for a fun evening with GAAC. There’s plenty of free parking, no dues or fees, lots of great snacks and conversation and amazing presentations, and you’ll leave knowing things you don’t know now. What could be better? Doors open at 7:45.

The Young Gloucester Scientist’s Club Presents: ASTRONOMY APRIL

~ Sawyer Free Library

Friday, April 14, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

YGSC: Solar System Explorers – The Young Gloucester Scientists Club is hosting a live virtual interactive journey through our Solar System with experts from Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University. This program is suitable for 4th-8th graders. Registration is required to receive the link. This program is virtual, should a device be needed reach out to Teen Librarian Marisa.

Tuesday, April 18 – Friday, April 21 

Astronomy Take & Make Universe in a Jar – a take home kit for tweens and teens with hands on astronomy activities. For students in grades 4-8.  Registration is required for each child individually. Pick up begins Tues, and continues through Friday. 

Friday, April 28, 8:00 to 9:00 p.m.

YSGC Field Trip: Star-Gazing at Halibut Point State Park – SFL’s Young Gloucester Scientist Club is hosting an evening of night-sky observations with the Gloucester Area Astronomy Club.  Students, grades 4th through 8th, and their families, will use telescopes, chat with experts and do some hand-on astronomy activities at this late-night Field Trip to Halibut Point State Park located at 4 Gott Ave, Rockport, MA. Registration is required. 

Questions? Contact Teen Librarian Marisa Hall at mhall@sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5549.