April 2018

To my fellow Skyscrapers,

Wow, time goes by when you are having fun!  I have certainly enjoyed being your president for the last two years.  Skyscrapers has continued the tradition of being a vital, active group of amateur astronomers.  Our meetings, when not compromised by the weather, have had a great group of speakers.  Our observatory continues to be a destination for the public and for groups who want to view the skies. This summer, our Solar Eclipse day at Seagrave was attended by hundreds of people from all over the state.  And our buildings, scopes and grounds have been expertly maintained by an extremely dedicated group of Trustees. We also initiated a Library Telescope Program with several town libraries and are revitalizing outreach to the public and members.  All of this was accomplished by members of your organization working together.

Steve Hubbard is capable and excited to take over the reins as President this year.  I know his mission is to grow the organization, especially in regards to offering more to members and to the public. I ask you to join in working on this goal of outreach, bringing your passion for astronomy into the community and strengthening our family of observers and enthusiasts.

Please remember our traditions.  Along with other local organizations - The Springfield Stars, ATMs of Boston, AAA of New York, the Aldrich Astronomical Society and others - we represent one of the longest running organized groups of  amateur astronomers in America. That and the pride of having access to our historic Alvan Clark telescope in it's completely refurbished condition should make everyone happy to be a Skyscraper.

So let's keep moving forward as a committed group towards our common goals:  the enjoyment of observing, constantly keeping in touch with the latest discoveries and new resources, learning from experts and each other, and educating others about the joys of astronomy.  These things need to be passed down to future generations.

Thank you for your support.

Time to get those telescopes, binoculars and eyeballs out of storage and get them out under the wide-open skies again!

That’s right, the long cold winter is at an end and it’s getting easier to enjoy what the night sky has to offer us.

This is the season of galaxies with many of the spring constellations like Virgo, Ursa Major, Coma Berenices, Canes Venatici and more offering an abundance of galaxies to hunt. There are many opportunities to see some truly amazing sights during this season.

As part of our return the outdoors, I am proposing a monthly series of star parties at our observatory for members, guests and any of the public who show up.

I hope to combine these with some of the special award programs that the Astronomical League has to make them more fun.

If you have a telescope that you’d like to learn more about, want to know the sky better or just want to look thru a bunch of other instruments, these events are for you!

As soon as you see the announcements, please put the dates into your calendar and try to come out to join us. We were able to get a few of these in last year and they were a lot of fun. Hope to see you there!