Astronomy Programs

Astronomy: Upcoming Programs - Please call 938-2117 to make a reservation.

Saturday, October 4th - 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. Jupiter, M13 globular cluster and other Deep Sky objects.

Fall is here and sky observers can look for the prominent constellations of Andromeda, Perseus, Cassiopeia, and Pegasus. These constellation names are connected in Greek mythology and it is therefore fitting that they are near each other in the sky. Program participants will learn how to find these grand constellations in the night sky.
The Moon will be in a waxing crescent phase making it an excellent target for the telescope. The giant planet Jupiter is also on the observing list. Participants will enjoy telescopic views of Jupiter, its equatorial bands, and the four largest Jovian moons Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. The plane of our Milky Way galaxy stretches overhead in the early evening. Within this dim band of light in the sky lie many beautiful star clusters and nebula. Fine examples of these will be viewed through the telescope.
All ages are welcome to join in the fun. Please call New Pond Farm at 938-2117 for reservations. Participants are advised to dress warmly. The program is rain or shine and in the event of poor weather, an indoor program will feature a digital representation of the night sky projected on a large screen. The program cost for members is $4 per person with a $16 maximum per family, and $6 per person, $24 maximum per family for non-members.

Astronomy Call or Email List:
If you would like to sign up on our list, a member of the New Pond Staff can call or email and alert you to an upcoming program. Astronomy programs are led by a great team of volunteer enthusiasts and usually coincide with interesting astronomical events. If you are interested, please call New Pond Farm at 938-2117.

Director Announces Two Grants to Support New Astronomy Initiatives

Last winter I had breakfast with our team of eight astronomy volunteers, which is always enjoyable because they are filled with enthusiasm and suggestions on how to make our astronomy facilities and programs even better. This year they had urgent requests. They could no longer find replacement parts for our ageing 10” Meade telescope, and it was taking more and more “creativity” on their part just to keep it functional. This was distressing news indeed, not only because our NPF astronomy programs have been steadily building in popularity, but because we have just entered into an exciting partnership with Joel Barlow High School where the darkened pastures on the farm will become the field station for Barlow’s new Astronomy Program.
Optimistically the astronomers had put together a wish list that included a beautiful 14” Celestron telescope, a laptop computer, a CCD camera and accessories that came close to $14,000, far more than New Pond’s modest operating budget could accommodate. Thankfully two wonderful local foundations came to our rescue, the Redding Education Foundation and the Meserve Memorial Fund. Together their generous grants covered the expenses—we are both thrilled and grateful!

The scope has already arrived and the astronomy volunteers are in the process of fine tuning it. It seems to be everything they hoped for (see letter from Juan Ivaldi below). Because of it’s larger 14” diameter it has a far greater light gathering capability which means that we will see more details on all celestial objects, and we will also have the educational opportunity to see objects that are found deeper in the night sky—star clusters and galaxies that have never been seen in our programs. This new scope also has “go to” capability, meaning that when preprogrammed, it will automatically move to the desired coordinates in the sky-so for example, our astronomers can press a few buttons and the scope will swing from the rings of Saturn to the moons of Jupiter to the star nebula in Orion’s belt in just a matter of seconds. This capability will be particularly useful when searching out fainter, deep sky objects. What a pleasure when we have enthusiastic students waiting in line!

Hopefully by September we will have our remote internet hook up and our new CCD camera will arrive, the latter will enable us to capture views of faint deep sky objects with great detail. The Barlow students will be able to send these images back to school for their projects and our volunteers will be able to share them during NPF programs.

As time goes on this 14” Celestron will allow us to expand into astrophotography, variable star observing and supernova hunting. Educational research could be performed by the volunteers and used while mentoring high school students.

We send an enormous “Thank You” to both The Redding Education Foundation and the Meserve Memorial Fund-they have enabled us to take our astronomy programs to a new level! We look forward to sharing the new telescope with all of you!