February 2017

Hi Everyone,

First I want to share an update on the high school student, Josh, that I mentioned last month. He is a student at Portsmouth High School and is working on his senior project. Josh has chosen to construct an 8" Dobsonian telescope. I have signed on as his official mentor, but other members have contributed their time and items to help him as well. Bob Horton has donated an 8" telescope mirror (after he has brought it back to shape with a little polishing). Jim Crawford, who lives only a few miles away in Middletown, has invited Josh to visit and observe at his home Observatory. I have asked Josh to give me a list of pieces he will need to complete his telescope. I will publish this list to our membership and ask you to help by donating any of the parts he needs. 

In addition, I look forward to two interesting Skyscraper events this month. 

The first will take place on Saturday, February 4th. Skyscrapers will hold the monthly meeting (7 PM) at the North Scituate Community House. Featured will be a new professor in Brown's Physics Department, Dr. Stephon Alexander. He is the author of a book relating Jazz and Physics and an excellent saxaphone player. He will explore the connection between jazz improvisation and modern physics. We hope you will enjoy this unusual talk. Also, if the ground is bare and the skies are clear, Jeff Padell and Bob Horton will open the Observatory for viewing after our meeting. So this should be a fun evening!

The second event of February will take place at Ladd Observatory on Friday, February 10. We are very honored to have author Dava Sobel to speak about her new book "The Glass Universe." The topic is the work done by the women "calculators" at Harvard College Observatory under the direction and with the encouragement of E.C. Pickering. We selected Ladd because it is an historical venue, but there is limited seating. So we are inviting our membership and not advertising to the general public. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Steve Siok at ssiok@cox.net. Dava's book will not be available at this event, but she will sign your copy if you bring one.