Member Reports, continued:
From James Menturweck:
Leitner observatory is providing a live feed on Tuesdays which includes live telescope observing, a lecture, sometimes a guest astronomer, and a movie. It is worth watching.
From Leo Taylor:
Unfortunately the only astronomy I’ve done is a simple photo of two planets and the Moon. It was to show that the Happy Face Conjunction being promoted on Facebook was phony. A no recent time were there two planets centered at the open end of a crescent Moon.
Leo’s image of Saturn, Jupiter, and the Moon in what social media said would be a smiley face–not even close!
From Barbara Blanko:
What I have to share is old news. Very old. It goes back to the days before I was a club member. It goes back as far as the very first Astronomy on Tap, held at the Cav a Vin on State Street. That is where I met the Yale post docs, Meg Schwamb, soon to become a project scientist for Planet Hunters using data from Kepler and team member for PlanetFour, Kevin Schawinski, who spoke of his novel idea for help with his research which he called the Zooniverse, and Brooke Simmons, also a part of the startup of Galaxy Zoo, now data science consultant. All those astrophysicists ready and willing to help me choose my very first telescope so that I could begin my new hobby of astroimaging. Well, all except for Kevin who told me if I wanted an instrument to image something I could not see, he couldn’t help me. But my sister and I were enjoying the night and with a handful of people in attendance. We didn’t hesitate to strike up conversation with these presenters.
But none of that has anything to do with what I wanted to share. Well, except for Meg. The cover of the March 2014 issue of Sky & Telescope highlights Meg’s work. In big letters, “Planet Hunting Goes Public. No scope, no sky, no problem!” I was excited to read this issue. So enjoying my commute on the Shoreline East train coming home from my shift in the CTICU at YNHH I sat down to read. It was a great article and issue. I was captivated. I read the entire magazine, “The Origin of Stacking,” “How the Web Saved the Webb,” I read everything including the letters.
But wait, this letter looked familiar. Could it… Wait… I wrote a letter to Sky & Telescope. But that was a long time ago. Yes! There at the bottom, after a sentence somewhat changed by the publisher (I know because my sentences always had a cadence, a rhythm to match my words, and this didn’t), was my name. My letter. My very first letter, published, in Sky & Telescope. I was famous! In my own house, that is. Wow! Sky & Telescope. And in the same volume as Meg. I was so excited. To this day, this is my claim to fame. My 15 minutes. The topic, no, it wasn’t about astrophotography, or planet hunting, James Webb, or Astronomy on Tap. My letter was much more simple. It was about H.A. Rey and how he shaped my vision and enjoyment of the night sky. And how could anyone presume to make his illustrations more clear. I was compelled to write. And my story was told.
I never did pursue that hobby of astrophotography, but man, I have enjoyed work of others. My grand plan brought me into the company of so many amazing individuals. And it brought me to seek out the community of those in the ASNH, the gatherings and star parties. And so, in this time of quarantine and story telling, I thought I would share my story.
Here’s to many more, and to dark skies, too,