Warwick Winman Middle School
by Francine Jackson
For the third year, Winman Middle School in Warwick invited Skyscrapers to participate in a multi-faceted family night that included a night sky program. The program took place on Thursday, December 8, and was the second consecutive year that their Lantern Night coincided with a clear night and a Full Moon.
We had fairly short notice, so were only able to commit two telescopes to the event, for which we were initially informed had nearly 400 people registered. Francine Jackson and Jim Hendrickson volunteered with their small refractors.
Instead of using the soccer field adjacent to the school, we set up in a practice field northwest of the school, which was a short walk up the hill and through the woods. This was a nice setting, as it provided visitors with the experience of being in a relatively isolated area, where the only light present was that of the Moon.
We were joined by Dave, a social studies teacher who is planning to retire next year and devote more time and effort into astronomy, so we’re hoping to see more of him in the future. Dave brought a 6-inch SCT that he kept trained on the Full Moon.
Cathy Hawthorne-Kocak, who coordinated the event, stayed in the field with us, and helped to guide the participants to the telescopes. About 250 guests came into the observing field in groups of 10-30. Because it was a fairly high-traffic, short-duration session, we concentrated on the bright objects, and didn’t move from object to object. We observed the Moon, Mars, Jupiter and its moons, and the Pleiades.
There was great interest and many questions about the planets, and we had conversations about the Moon missions, including the ongoing Artemis 1 flight.
The school already has the next Lantern Night planned, for November 3, 2023.
