Callahan Elementary School Star Party
by Dave Huestis
After months of planning the star party for Callahan Elementary School in Burrillville was a big success. About 230 students, their parents and siblings, joined members of Skyscrapers in the ball field across the street from the school for an enjoyable evening of “stargazing.”
The enthusiastic crowd was treated to fantastic views of a waxing gibbous Moon, just one day past First Quarter. Many of our guests had never observed the Moon before with so much magnification. It really knocked their socks off!
Seven Skyscrapers members, and two guest telescope operators, volunteered their time and brought a variety of different telescopes for the school community to gaze through. Some of the other objects viewed that cool but very clear evening were: Alberio, M13, M31, M57, and Alcor and Miza.
I wish the crowd would have stayed a little later, but the kid’s attention span at that age is very short. I also think because it was a Monday night (school night) and not a Friday night may have contributed to them leaving a little earlier than usual.
The folks who participated were: Jim Hendrickson, Jim Brenek, John Leonelli, Bernie “Bing” Kubaska, Conrad Cardano, Tom Gilson, Glen Huestis and yours truly.
Also, one of my Bryant students, Ethan Aronowitz, volunteered to operate my 4 ¼” f/5
reflector. Here are a few of his comments:
“…I was able to attend a star party for Callahan School in Burrillville, RI and it proved to be a great experience that I found very enjoyable…As I arrived I was pleased to see people setting up all their different types of telescopes. Some were small and reflector telescopes, while others were large refractor telescopes. Regardless of the model type, it proved to be very interesting to see so many people in one area with such great knowledge and appreciation for astronomy.”
The telescope I was in charge of was focused directly of the moon. It was not large in size, but that did not take away from the incredible magnification it enabled me to view the moon with. It was an extremely clear night outside, which really enabled me to obtain a clear sight of Earth’s moon. I have not looked at the moon through a telescope since a very young age. However, even being a senior a college, I was still quite fascinated by the sight, as I was really able to capture the view of the moon. It was a half-moon that shined very bright and I clearly remember seeing all the craters that were visible.
Of course I was able to relate to the moon because it is so popular and well-known. However, the next two viewings I saw were (the) Andromeda galaxy and M13. They appeared to be very interesting, as they both looked like a fuzz ball in the sky…I was able to learn that (M13) is actually a combination of …thousands of stars that are actually very far apart. However, upon looking at them through a telescope, it appears that they are very close together and almost touching.
Overall, the star party I attended was definitely a great learning experience…it is great to actually view stars, galaxies, etc. through a telescope. I can truly say I enjoyed the experience…”
The Callahan Elementary School made a very generous donation to Skyscrapers for our collective efforts, and Ethan successfully earned the credit for the lab he had missed at Bryant due to illness.
