October 2024

Contact Michael Corvese (corvesemichael@gmail.com) if you would like to give a
short (less than 20 minutes) talk

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) was a lifelong resident of Providence and a pioneering author who was a major influence on the modern genres of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. From a young age he was fascinated with astronomy, to the extent that 'science' to him generally meant 'astronomy,' and even attended a meeting of the Skyscrapers in 1936, near the end of his life. This talk will explore Lovecraft's views on, and literary influence from astronomy, including his childhood visits to Ladd Observatory, his amateur astronomy journal, his personal telescope, his teenaged encounter with Percival Lowell and thoughts on life on Mars and Venus, his ideas on early rocketry, his observation of Halley's Comet, and his debunking of an early UFO sighting.

Less than 11,500 years ago, an object streaked northward at a low angle across the sky in northern Chile until finally exploding a few kilometers above the surface.  But this was more than an explosion: the vaporized body continued downward at high speeds and engulfed a wide area over 125 km long and 30 km wide across the Atacama Desert near the oasis town of Pica. The colliding vapor fused surface materials into large molten masses as tornado-speed winds spread them across the surface. Before cooling, some of the twisted glasses formed casts of surface sediments and even plants where they landed.  This event would make Chelyabinsk in 2013 seem like a sneeze, and Tunguska in 1908, a mere cough.  Two Chilean geologists first discovered the glasses and suspected that they resulted from an airburst, while others argued that the glass must have formed by grass fires.  After visiting the sites, examining these glasses firsthand, and determining the temperatures of formation (instantly melting zircons), however, geologist Scott Harris and I concluded that the Chilean geologists’ first suspicion was right: this was a record of an unimaginable event.  In fact, traces of the object trapped inside matched samples returned from Comet Wild-2 (Stardust Mission), thereby implicating a cometary body.  Recreating what exactly happened in Chile requires detailed field work, computational modeling, and looking for evidence of similar events on the other planets.  For example, radar-bright/dark splotches on Venus represent scars from near-surface airbursts under its much denser atmosphere.  And new studies indicate that certain large craters on Mars must have been formed by comets (rather than asteroids), a discovery that allowed estimating how many comets actually hit the Earth.  The event over Chile was probably witnessed (if not experienced) by indigenous hunter gatherers, who had arrived only a thousand years before. 

For more than 20 years the UCONN Observatory was left abandoned. Not long ago, UCONN hired a new astronomy professor, Matt Guthrie, and he was very interested in getting the old facility up and running again. Fortunately, Al Hall had been talking with the Physics Dept. head, Dr. Barret Wells, about donating a telescope to the school. During that conversation, Barry mentioned Matt's interest in the old telescope. Al sent Matt an email, and the next day they were out at the observatory making an assessment. The rest is history, and a nice story. This talk will focus on the subsequent restoration effort that followed, and the return of the old East Road Observatory back to life.

For more than 25 years, he and his wife travelled the country attending every major star party in the country. In the process, building a lifetime of wonderful experiences cris-crossing the country and enjoying some of the greatest dark sky sites in the US. Today, in a special presentation, Jeff will share his experiences and stories concerning their life on the road. It is a story that is sometimes hard to believe….and one that certainly would only be taken up by a pair of lunatics!

Choice of Grinder (Italian Deluxe, Turkey or Roast Beef), Spinach Pie or Salad (Garden, Garden w/ Grilled Chicken).

More information at registration link.
$15 per person.
Pre-order and payment with registration required.

The observatory’s telescopes will be available for observing (weather permitting), or set up your own telescope on the grounds.