Kennebunk observatory shows locals the universe (Printed Dec. 21, 2007)
By Ashley St. Michel
Staff Writer
As the night sky began lighting up with stars and planets last weekend Astronomical Society of Northern New England (ASNNE) President Tim Brown pushed his battery operated power drill into a metal plate on the back wall of the society’s Kennebunk observatory.
“Since we got some snow, it’ll probably struggle a little bit,” Brown said.
As the drill turned it let out a quiet hissing sound and the roof opened up – so the sky could be seen – and rolled onto a building frame located behind the observatory.
The Starfield Observatory was built in the fall and winter of 1999 by volunteers and ASNNE club members. Brown said the club was lucky to have a member who worked with concrete for many years and was able to lay the slab quickly and efficiently. The design of the building consists of five-foot high studded walls with metal tracks built into the top of them to fit the six rolling wheels on each side that help the roof of the building slide between the observing room and the frame behind it. The entrance on the south side of the building provides an access point for almost any person due to the farm-style swinging wood doors, which push back a full 90 degrees.
“It’s not your typical dome-style observatory,” Brown said. “But it provides a place for club members and anybody else to come and watch the sky.”
The Astronomical Society of Northern New England is an all volunteer non-profit organization, founded in 1982 and dedicated to promoting awareness of astronomy. In 1982, Brown said a group of people interested in astronomy began gathering at a private home in Elliot to discuss stars, the moon, the sun and the solar system. As interest grew, Brown said the group began looking into finding land to build a meeting place or observatory.
“Luckily, we have never had periods of time where this club disappeared or stopped operating,” Brown said, citing invested astronomy enthusiasm as a reason membership has remained concrete.
Currently, Brown said the club has anywhere between 30 and 40 members who attend monthly meetings, the first Friday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at the Masonic Temple in Kennebunk, and come to the Starfield Observatory to view the sky. He added about 20 of those people come to the meetings and the observatory on a regular basis.
“You have those members who are involved in everything and then you have those who come and go,” Brown said. “We have had a much larger membership at times.”
Brown said between 1999 and 2005 the club grew to more than 120 members, which he added was due to the amount of public outreach the club was involved in. Prior to 1999 the club didn’t have a permanent location they were able to meet at every month. Brown said the club members were “roaming astronomers” before they acquired land which is located just over the Kennebunk-Lyman town lines.
The observatory, which Brown said is the only one between Scarborough and Concord, N.H., is located on Route 35 near the Kennebunk-Lyman town line and consists of a 3.5 acre parcel in the northeast corner of a 40 acre field. The land was part of a larger parcel of land offered by the former owners, Dan Fleishman and Claudia Berman, to the Kennebunk Land Trust. Brown said the owners were friends with a club member who expressed interest in acquiring the land for observatory use. While Brown didn’t give an exact price, he said the land was practically given to the ASNNE.
The equipment in the observatory came from a personal donations, including local businesses and friends of club members, Brown said, adding the donations from Bowdoin College were the most generous. Bowdoin College gave the club two telescopes and two mounts which, Brown said, were used for about a year. He said as the telescopes got older, the club talked with Bowdoin about selling them to acquire new equipment.
The club purchased a 16 inch Meade LX200 GPS Schmidt-Cassegram and an 8 inch f/15 Zeiss-Jena refractor. Brown said the Meade LX200 is completely computerized, with “go-to” capabilities that allow him to use the computer to move the telescope to a specific area in the sky. The Zeiss-Jena allows viewing of the sun through its Hydrogen –Alpha filter system, and Brown said both scopes provide views of galaxies and other deep sky objects. The telescope pedestals are anchored to massive concrete piers installed five-feet deep, which helps diminish vibrations.
Taylor Grant and Evan Winkel, both Sophomore’s from Massabesic High School in Waterboro, went to the Starfield Observatory Dec. 14 after numerous meetings between the school and the observatory were postponed due to inclement weather. Brown said the school decided to offer extra credit to students who showed up to view the sky last Friday in Kennebunk.
“We were really riding on the hope that the clouds would go away because we saw they were moving in on the way here,” Grant said, and added her favorite part of science is astronomy.
Winkel said he came to the observatory just for the experience.
“I never really have been able to afford a telescope or have known anyone who has actually had a telescope so I came out of interest,” he said.
The two worked with ASNNE Vice President Joan Chamberlin identifying constellations, planets and other various stars.
Brown said he is enthusiastic when new people come to the observatory since the science of astronomy only grows every year. Brown said there are a lot of areas students can concentrate on if they are pursuing an Astronomy degree.
Chamberlin agreed with Brown.
“These days you can study astronomy and become a member of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),” Chamberlin said.
Brown said astronomy has continued to grow as a science in the United States due to the Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope is part of the Space Telescope Science Institute, a sub group of NASA, which works to study and explain celestial happenings. The project’s concept, an observatory orbiting above the Earth’s atmosphere, began in 1990.
Brown said the club is always accepting new members, whether they are astronomy experts or just want to visit the observatory and view the sky. Membership comes with the bonus of free admission to the Southworth Planetarium at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. The planetarium hosts a number of events including star parties and the ability to view the entire sky by a life-size projection screen. For more information about the club visit www.asnne.org.
“What we are really trying to do is stimulate the kids minds about the subject,” Brown said. “And we are finding the kids coming here are much more aware. It’s becoming a bigger part of the curriculum than it was in the past.”
To contact Ashley St. Michel, call 282-4337 ext. 228 or email news@kennebunkpost.com.
Staff Writer
As the night sky began lighting up with stars and planets last weekend Astronomical Society of Northern New England (ASNNE) President Tim Brown pushed his battery operated power drill into a metal plate on the back wall of the society’s Kennebunk observatory.
“Since we got some snow, it’ll probably struggle a little bit,” Brown said.
As the drill turned it let out a quiet hissing sound and the roof opened up – so the sky could be seen – and rolled onto a building frame located behind the observatory.
The Starfield Observatory was built in the fall and winter of 1999 by volunteers and ASNNE club members. Brown said the club was lucky to have a member who worked with concrete for many years and was able to lay the slab quickly and efficiently. The design of the building consists of five-foot high studded walls with metal tracks built into the top of them to fit the six rolling wheels on each side that help the roof of the building slide between the observing room and the frame behind it. The entrance on the south side of the building provides an access point for almost any person due to the farm-style swinging wood doors, which push back a full 90 degrees.
“It’s not your typical dome-style observatory,” Brown said. “But it provides a place for club members and anybody else to come and watch the sky.”
The Astronomical Society of Northern New England is an all volunteer non-profit organization, founded in 1982 and dedicated to promoting awareness of astronomy. In 1982, Brown said a group of people interested in astronomy began gathering at a private home in Elliot to discuss stars, the moon, the sun and the solar system. As interest grew, Brown said the group began looking into finding land to build a meeting place or observatory.
“Luckily, we have never had periods of time where this club disappeared or stopped operating,” Brown said, citing invested astronomy enthusiasm as a reason membership has remained concrete.
Currently, Brown said the club has anywhere between 30 and 40 members who attend monthly meetings, the first Friday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at the Masonic Temple in Kennebunk, and come to the Starfield Observatory to view the sky. He added about 20 of those people come to the meetings and the observatory on a regular basis.
“You have those members who are involved in everything and then you have those who come and go,” Brown said. “We have had a much larger membership at times.”
Brown said between 1999 and 2005 the club grew to more than 120 members, which he added was due to the amount of public outreach the club was involved in. Prior to 1999 the club didn’t have a permanent location they were able to meet at every month. Brown said the club members were “roaming astronomers” before they acquired land which is located just over the Kennebunk-Lyman town lines.
The observatory, which Brown said is the only one between Scarborough and Concord, N.H., is located on Route 35 near the Kennebunk-Lyman town line and consists of a 3.5 acre parcel in the northeast corner of a 40 acre field. The land was part of a larger parcel of land offered by the former owners, Dan Fleishman and Claudia Berman, to the Kennebunk Land Trust. Brown said the owners were friends with a club member who expressed interest in acquiring the land for observatory use. While Brown didn’t give an exact price, he said the land was practically given to the ASNNE.
The equipment in the observatory came from a personal donations, including local businesses and friends of club members, Brown said, adding the donations from Bowdoin College were the most generous. Bowdoin College gave the club two telescopes and two mounts which, Brown said, were used for about a year. He said as the telescopes got older, the club talked with Bowdoin about selling them to acquire new equipment.
The club purchased a 16 inch Meade LX200 GPS Schmidt-Cassegram and an 8 inch f/15 Zeiss-Jena refractor. Brown said the Meade LX200 is completely computerized, with “go-to” capabilities that allow him to use the computer to move the telescope to a specific area in the sky. The Zeiss-Jena allows viewing of the sun through its Hydrogen –Alpha filter system, and Brown said both scopes provide views of galaxies and other deep sky objects. The telescope pedestals are anchored to massive concrete piers installed five-feet deep, which helps diminish vibrations.
Taylor Grant and Evan Winkel, both Sophomore’s from Massabesic High School in Waterboro, went to the Starfield Observatory Dec. 14 after numerous meetings between the school and the observatory were postponed due to inclement weather. Brown said the school decided to offer extra credit to students who showed up to view the sky last Friday in Kennebunk.
“We were really riding on the hope that the clouds would go away because we saw they were moving in on the way here,” Grant said, and added her favorite part of science is astronomy.
Winkel said he came to the observatory just for the experience.
“I never really have been able to afford a telescope or have known anyone who has actually had a telescope so I came out of interest,” he said.
The two worked with ASNNE Vice President Joan Chamberlin identifying constellations, planets and other various stars.
Brown said he is enthusiastic when new people come to the observatory since the science of astronomy only grows every year. Brown said there are a lot of areas students can concentrate on if they are pursuing an Astronomy degree.
Chamberlin agreed with Brown.
“These days you can study astronomy and become a member of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),” Chamberlin said.
Brown said astronomy has continued to grow as a science in the United States due to the Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope is part of the Space Telescope Science Institute, a sub group of NASA, which works to study and explain celestial happenings. The project’s concept, an observatory orbiting above the Earth’s atmosphere, began in 1990.
Brown said the club is always accepting new members, whether they are astronomy experts or just want to visit the observatory and view the sky. Membership comes with the bonus of free admission to the Southworth Planetarium at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. The planetarium hosts a number of events including star parties and the ability to view the entire sky by a life-size projection screen. For more information about the club visit www.asnne.org.
“What we are really trying to do is stimulate the kids minds about the subject,” Brown said. “And we are finding the kids coming here are much more aware. It’s becoming a bigger part of the curriculum than it was in the past.”
To contact Ashley St. Michel, call 282-4337 ext. 228 or email news@kennebunkpost.com.
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