[Friends_of_SSASTROS] Notes From The Field - November is the New Summer

[Mike McCabe]

November 4th,2022, Friday Night at Abington Public Library;

Greetings SSAStros Friends and Members,

  Once again, we needto send a big shout-out to all the SSAS members that so generously donatedtheir time to help share the cosmos last night with the good folks over at theAbington Public Library. All told we had about a dozen club members inattendance, with at least seven scopes on the ground and several folks functioningin ‘ambassador’ roles. As for patron attendance, we entertained at least fiftyand perhaps up to seventy-five very enthusiastic children, parents, and grandparents.

  In the “you’ve gotto be kidding me” category, the outside temperature on this early Novemberevening stayed in the 60’s right through to end of the event, making if feelmore like a cool summer evening than a night on the calendar that's closing in on knockingon the door to winter.  The sky conditionswere variable, with a high, thin haze covering the celestial dome for most ofthe evening. It worked out fine though, as there were enough bright targets toenable observing all the way from start to finish.

  As for the observingcomponent, we were basically limited to the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn, and notmuch else. The 87% waxing gibbous Moon shone brightly and of course cast itslight across the sky, amply aided in doing so by the persistent thincloud cover. Jupiter was positioned just 3° above the Moon, which made for a greatconversation starter, while Saturn hovered well above the trees to thesouthwest.

  With sevenscopes up and running, patrons got to see that trio of objects in a variety offormats, from a very low power view showing Luna and Jupiter in the same field,to each of the objects at a variety of magnifications. Of course there were theusual “that’s fake!” comments in response to seeing Saturn in the eyepiece forthe first time, along with a bunch of “that’s so cool!’s and “oh, wow!’s, allof which served to help vindicate the efforts made by the astronomers to come out and sacrifice their time volunteering for the event.

   But theconversation wasn’t just limited to the uber-bright objects in the sky on thisnight, either. I had one patron who was practically begging me to show him agalaxy in the eyepiece. He was legitimately under the impression that he wasgoing to be able to see colors and spiral arms, just like “that new telescope,you know, that’s sending back all those pictures?”  I had to patiently explain to him that onthis night there would be no galaxy viewing due to the brightness of the sky,and even if I could it would only be a grey smudge in the eyepiece view.

  This led to avery interesting conversation. He explained to me that on the occasions that hehas to work in California and drive to Nevada, there’s a “different” sky outthere. As I explained to him that it’s really the same sky, just not affectedby light pollution like our local sky is, he appeared genuinely flummoxed bythe whole concept. What it made me realize is that not everyone understands theimpact of light pollution, even intelligent people functioning at aprofessional level. It has also served to nudge my position on the topic oflight pollution education. Up until last night my opinion leaned more towards one of “peoplejust generally don’t care” (especially busy adults with “more important thingsto worry about”) but now I’m starting to think that it may be very important topursue a campaign of light pollution awareness, with the hopes that we canbreak through to some people and maybe get them thinking about it. It's something to consider, for sure.

   Thanks again to all who came out last night andrepresented the South Shore Astronomical Society in such a fine manner!  Your efforts are appreciated, maybe even morethan you’re aware of!

    Keep LookingUp!                                                                                                    Mike McCabe

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