Moonrise on the Seekonk
by Jim Hendrickson
For the third time in four years, Skyscrapers, Inc. was invited to participate in the Moonrise on the Seekonk event organized by Blackstone Parks Conservancy and the Narragansett Boat Club at Blackstone Park on the East Side of Providence. The event celebrates the beauty of the Full Moon rising across the Seekonk River, and includes music and food.
Skyscrapers who participated in the event included Francine Jackson with a 4” Celestron refractor, Jim Hendrickson with an 80mm APM refractor, Mark Munkacsy with a home-built 6” Dobsonian, and Michael Corvese with a 90mm Questar Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope. Peter, from Narragansett Boat Club, brought out his giant binoculars as well.
The observing field is a narrow strip of grass between River Drive and the western bank of the Seekonk River just to the north of the Narragansett Boat Club. The area is awash in bright streetlights, but the view overhead and to the east is unobstructed, making it suitable for viewing of the Moon, planets, and brighter objects..
This year’s event was held in November, unlike previous years which were held in July and August. This allowed for an earlier start time, and with the Moon in Taurus, the nearly full Moon rose earlier and notably farther towards the north.
The weather forecast was rather dismal, with near full overcast skies predicted through the evening hours, with only a slight chance of clear conditions right after sunset. Temperatures held steady in the low 40s, with light breezes.
Despite the forecast, the clouds broke early, leaving mainly clear skies, with some clouds towards the east, enough to make for a colorful and dramatic moonrise just after 5:09pm. The Moon created a firefly glow behind the clouds as it rose, but its nearly full orb soon appeared through a break, and remained visible for the duration of the event, with bands of clouds periodically bisecting it.
While the Moon was the main highlight, the sky remained clear enough to view Jupiter and Saturn. Venus set behind the trees too early to view. There was a favorable pass of the International Space Station just before 6pm, but we were so engaged with the group that the time had passed before we realized, and didn’t get to point it out. We had also hoped to point out some notable brighter deep-sky objects, such as the Pleiades, but persistent light haze and cloud illuminated by the Moon prevented visibility.
A total of about 70 guests came to see the Moon and planets, many of them being younger kids. All enjoyed the simpler pleasure of watching a full Moon rise, and its reflection in the waves of the Seekonk River, and were wowed by seeing Jupiter and Saturn for the first time. All involved were reminded to keep looking up. The next day in an email, organizer “Rick” Richards noted we were the highlight of the program, and he is looking forward to our returning in 2022.
