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4th Annual Observatory
Clean-up & Brass Polishing Festival
It's a once-a-year opportunity for you to join us in sprucing up the
Observatory for another season at Hildene, including polishing all that
luscious brass on the 1908 Warner & Swasey telescope! The number of
volunteers on the clean-up and polishing detail are, unfortunately,
limited; so be sure to RSVP to make sure we save a spot for you this
Saturday, 29 April, at 3 PM. Assuming our usual strong turn-out of
volunteers, we usually make quick work of the tasks, and are typically done
within 60-90 minutes.
As always, no previous skills in cleaning and polishing are required,
though veterans returning for another year are always welcome! For those
with sensitive hands, you may want to bring plastic/rubber gloves. We'll
supply the brass polish, rags, and paper towels.
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RADIO ASTRONOMY AT HILDENE
The renowned astronomy and astronautics author, Andrew Chaikin, is going to be broadcasting a Public Stargazing Party at 9PM, on VPR, the evening of Monday, the 1st of May, from the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
We of the Hildene Astronomy Committee wish to invite you and your friends to join us on the Hildene lawn, just south of Manchester, Vermont, at 8:30 that evening to share in the listening of the broadcast. We will be quietly pointing out the described items for you with our laser pointers, and to answer any questions you may have after the broadcast. It will be a personal astronomy education moment for you, your friends and family.
Weather permitting, bring your eyes, ears, a portable radio, and a blanket and overcoat, and join us. Please take a moment and visit the VPR web site that provides additional instructions, and describes the etiquette and tips for attending a star party. Come learn about the rest of your universe, and have fun with family and friends.
VPR Stargazing info: http://www.vpr.net/vt_news/starparty0406.shtml
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HILDENE COMET & SATURN STAR PARTY
Manchester, Vermont - A triple treat viewing of Saturn, the Great Orion
Nebula, and Comet Machholz will be the feature at the Hildene Astronomy
Club's first "star party" of the New Year. On the evening of Friday,
January 14, at 8:00 pm, the public is invited to gather at the observatory
on the historic Hildene estate. Although modest in size and brightness, the
comet, which will be visible to the naked eye during most of the month of January, will be best appreciated when seen through binoculars or a low power telescope. The event is free of charge, and in case of poor observing conditions, the alternate observing date will be January 15, at 8:00 pm.
Preceding the star party will be a lecture, co-sponsored by the Hildene and
Burr & Burton Astronomy Clubs. The evening will feature informational
presentations by students about Saturn, the Great Orion Nebula, and the
comet. The lecture, which is also free of charge and open to the public,
will take place Friday, January 14, at Burr & Burton's Smith Center in the
Hunter Seminar Room in Manchester. Doors open at 6:45 and the lecture will begin promptly at 7 pm and last approximately one hour. The BBA Astronomy Club will provide refreshments. Weather permitting, the star party at Hildene will immediately follow the lecture. In case of poor observing
conditions the lecture will be extended with a possible live video feed from
NASA of the Huygens probe landing on a Saturnian moon earlier that day.
Anyone planning on attending the star party is advised to dress warmly and
to bring a small flashlight. Extra binoculars and telescopes are helpful
but not required.
The star party and lecture is another public outreach effort by the Hildene
Astronomy Club since it was designated last year as a member of the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory's "Night Sky Network". For further information
regarding this or other Hildene Astronomy Club events, contact the club by
email at astro@hildene.org
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Occultation in Leo
Lead by Claudio Veliz, witness this occultation on 24 February at 8:45 P.M.
For further information
regarding this or other Hildene Astronomy Club events, contact the club by
email at astro@hildene.org
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HILDENE'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
To learn about how astronomers know what they know
about the Cosmos, and everything in it, Hildene and Burr & Burton Astronomy
Clubs are co-sponsoring a lecture by Professor John Thorstensen, Chairman of
the Dartmouth College Department of Physics and Astronomy. The informal
talk, regarding the size and scale of what we see in the Universe, and the
nature of the evidence that makes those results so compelling to scientists,
will be delivered on Friday, March 11. The session will be at Burr &
Burton's Smith Center in the Hunter Seminar Room in Manchester, and is open
to the public at no charge. Doors open at 7:00 and the lecture will begin
promptly at 7:15 PM. It will last approximately one hour, followed by a
question and answer period. The BBA Astronomy Club will provide
refreshments.
The lecture is a renewal of decades old collaboration between Hildene, the
former summer residence of Robert Todd Lincoln, and Burr & Burton Academy.
In 1926, Lincoln's widow donated Robert's 1909 6" Warner & Swasey refracting
telescope, and the funds needed to build an observatory to house it, to what
is now Burr & Burton Academy. After several decades of use at the private
secondary school serving residents of Manchester and surrounding towns, the
telescope was returned in the early 1990's to its original and now restored
observatory at Hildene. With the help of the Hildene Astronomy Club, the
telescope was refurbished in 2003 and today is available during viewing
sessions organized by the club for members, community groups, educational
organizations, and the general public.
Immediately following the lecture, weather permitting, the public is invited
to attend an informal observing session at the observatory at Hildene.
Potential observing targets are Saturn and Jupiter, the Great Orion Nebula
(M-42), and the "Beehive" cluster (M-44). Anyone planning on attending the
star party is advised to dress warmly and to
bring a small flashlight. Extra binoculars and telescopes are welcome but
not required.
The observing session and lecture are another public outreach effort by the
Hildene Astronomy Club since it was designated last year as a member of the
NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory's "Night Sky Network." For further
information regarding this or other Hildene Astronomy Club events, or to
schedule an observing session for a community or educational group, contact
the club by email at astro@hildene.org.
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HILDENE'S MARS EXPLORATION LECTURE
Manchester, Vermont - In honor of National Astronomy Day 2005, Hildene and
Burr & Burton Astronomy Clubs are co-sponsoring a lecture by internationally
renowned space science journalist and author Andrew Chaikin. The talk on
Wednesday, April 13, will compare the experiences of the Apollo mission
lunar astronauts with the sights, thoughts, and feelings likely to be
experienced by the first humans to walk on Mars.
Mr. Chaikin is best known as the author of "A Man on the Moon: The
Triumphant Story of the Apollo Space Program," first published in 1994. This
acclaimed work was the basis for Tom Hanks' Emmy award winning HBO
miniseries, "From the Earth to the Moon." Chaikin spent eight years writing
and researching the book, including hundreds of hours of personal interviews
with each of the 23 surviving lunar astronauts. Apollo moonwalker Gene
Cernan said of the book, "I've been there. Chaikin took me back." According
to Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist & director of the Hayden Planetarium
in New York, "Chaikin somehow manages to combine the knowledge of a space
engineer, the writing of a seasoned science journalist, and the speaking
talents of a prized professor, to bring the past, present, and future of
space exploration down to earth. Nobody does it better."
The lecture will take place at Burr & Burton Academy's Riley Center in
Manchester, and is open to the public at no charge. Doors open at 7:15 and
the lecture will begin promptly at 7:30 PM. It will last approximately one
hour, including a question and answer period.
The Hildene/BBA co-sponsored event, the third so far this year, exemplifies
the renaissance of the decades old relationship between Hildene, the former
summer residence of Robert Todd Lincoln, and Burr & Burton Academy. In 1926,
Lincoln's widow donated Robert's 1909 6-inch Warner & Swasey refracting
telescope and the funds needed to build an observatory to house it, to Burr
& Burton Academy. After several decades of use, the telescope was returned
in the early 1990's to its original and now restored observatory at Hildene.
With the help of the Hildene Astronomy Club, the telescope itself was
refurbished in 2003 and today is available during viewing sessions organized
by the club for its members, community groups, educational organizations,
and the general public.
The lecture is part of the ongoing public outreach effort by the Hildene
Astronomy Club since it was designated last year as a member of the NASA/Jet
Propulsion Laboratory's "Night Sky Network." For further information
regarding this or other Hildene Astronomy Club events, or to schedule an
observing session for a community or educational group, contact the club by
email at astro@hildene.org.
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EXTRATERRESTRIAL LECTURE - IS ANYONE OUT THERE?
Manchester, Vermont - The Astronomy clubs of Hildene and Burr & Burton
Academy are co-sponsoring a lecture by astrobiologist Kevin Hand. The
informal talk, entitled: "Astrobiology: The Study of the Living Universe,"
will be delivered on Monday, June 13. Mr. Hand will conduct a virtual tour
of the solar system and explore current progress in the search for life on
other worlds. Concurrently, he will discuss how life began on Earth and how
that knowledge aids our search for life elsewhere in the cosmos. The talk
will take place at Burr & Burton Smith Center's Hunter Seminar Room on the
school's campus in Manchester, and is open to the public at no charge. Doors
open at 7:15, and the lecture will begin promptly at 7:30 PM. It will last
approximately one hour and will be followed by a question and answer period.
The BBA Astronomy Club will provide light refreshments.
Mr. Hand, a 1993 graduate of Burr and Burton Academy and currently a
doctoral degree candidate in the Department of Geological and Environmental
Sciences at Stanford University, received his undergraduate degree in
Physics and Astronomy from Dartmouth College in 1998. He also holds a
Master's degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford. Before beginning
his graduate studies, Hand worked at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain
View, CA and interned at the Theoretical Astrophysics Division of the Los
Alamos National Laboratory. His primary research goals involve the search
for life in the solar system. He is also the keynote speaker for the Burr &
Burton Academy commencement program on Sunday, June 12.
The Hildene/BBA co-sponsored lecture, the fourth and final event for the
2004/2005 school year, exemplifies the continuation of the decades old
relationship between Hildene, the former residence of Robert Todd Lincoln,
and Burr & Burton Academy. In 1926, Lincoln's widow donated Robert's 1909
6-inch Warner & Swasey refracting telescope to Burr & Burton along with the
funds needed to build an observatory to house it. The telescope was
returned in the early 1990's to its original and now restored observatory at
Hildene. With the help of the Hildene Astronomy Club, the telescope itself
was refurbished in 2003, and today is used during viewing sessions organized
by the club for its members, community groups, educational organizations,
and the general public.
The lecture is part of the ongoing public outreach effort by the Hildene
Astronomy Club since it was designated last year as a member of the NASA/Jet
Propulsion Laboratory's "Night Sky Network." For further information
regarding this or other Hildene Astronomy Club events, or to schedule an
observing session for a community or educational group, contact the club by
email at astro@hildene.org.
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