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Tag: Astronomy Evangelist
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In San Francisco, amateur astronomers took part in the “100 Hours of Astronomy” event. I was very happy to be out in the dark and cold of the Lands End park on the northwestern edge of San Francisco, darkness looming to the west over the Pacific and somewhat dark patches of sky to the north and south. From that vantage point enthusiastic astronomers from the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers club showed off the sky to a small gathering of interested citizens. Some had read about the event in the San Francisco Chronicle, others in the local “Richmond Review” community newspaper, still others at my kids’ school where I regularly post articles from my blog The Urban Astronomer.
We saw the Space Station fly by on Thursday evening and that caused some excitement. We talked at length about eclipses of the Sun as I lead a mini-astronomy class explaining how Moon phases come about and how eclipses happen. I always use the minutes after sunset as a time to point out the color of the deep blue sky and relate that to the sky you experience at totality during a solar eclipse. We talked about light pollution and Dave Goggin of “Citizens for Smart Lighting San Francisco” encouraged us to get involved in our community to find ways to reduce light pollution. With the bright moonlight creating a glow all around us, Rick Prelinger took a photograph of us in the moonlight.
For me, a star party is an opportunity to connect on many levels, to share one’s enthusiasm for the sky, to create awareness of issues both global and local, and to ultimately to rediscover the reason why so many people love astronomy in the first place: to be in a place of wonder, to marvel at the majesty of the universe, and to ponder our place in it.
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