Astronomical Society Reaches Out They’re Taking Steps to Help Others Look Toward the Stars.

By HEATHER CAMP

After light pollution, clouds are an astronomer’s biggest enemy.

But members of the Northeast Florida Astronomical Society weren’t discouraged by the clouds rolling in over Hanna Park as the sun set on a recent evening. They optimistically set up their telescopes at the Atlantic Beach park and encouraged beachgoers to stick around for the star-gazing that would begin after dark.

“We’ve got the planet Jupiter that’s going to be up,” society member and Lakewood resident Ted Treiber said to a curious passerby. “We’ll be able to look at the fuzzy stuff up there. It’ll be fun! If you’re around, come back!”

Many did. As cloud cover broke, about 30 people of all ages viewed the night sky through telescopes set up by society members.

Despite the nonprofit organization’s small membership roster, data from the Astronomical League, a national umbrella organization, show it has spent more time in the past year sharing astronomy with the community than any other U.S. astronomical society.

“We have under 100 members, yet we do more outreach than most other clubs in the country,” said Mike Ramirez, past president of the organization. “A lot of [local] schools are setting up astronomy clubs as we speak.”

In recent weeks, society members disassembled and transported telescopes from Philadelphia to Jacksonville for an observatory they hope will be open to the public in the next two years. They’ve also given away 7,000 telescopes to schools, parks and hundreds of individuals and organizations across Northeast Florida.

According to Ramirez, the Northeast Florida Astronomical Society also has more members with Astronomical League outreach awards than any other Astronomical League-associated club in the country.

To Steve Peacock of Lakewood, another society member, seeing the wonder on the faces of adults and children new to astronomy is the most rewarding part of community outreach.

“I really enjoy coming out here to do the public observation,” he said. “It’s just a lot of fun.”

Though Peacock and his wife, Jackie, the organization’s secretary, have been society members for a year, they feel as if it’s been much longer.

“The first meeting we went to they made us feel like we had been members for years,” Steve Peacock said.

People at the recent monthly public observing event felt welcome, too. Members encouraged those attending to peer through telescopes at the moon, planetary nebulas formed by dying stars and the night’s main attraction: Jupiter and four of its moons that were visible in the southwestern sky.

One society member, Mike Rosset of Mandarin, even had a television monitor hooked up to his telescope to magnify images and share them with many people at once. Rosset’s wife, Leila, handed out light sticks and raffled off moon maps to onlookers.

According to Ramirez, through public observing sessions and similar events in the Jacksonville area, society members have spent more than 170 hours since January sharing their love of astronomy with others, and have reached more than 3,000 people in that time.

Ramirez said the organization gives him the opportunity to do what he enjoys most.

“Astronomy is my hobby,” he said, “and I like helping people.”

(c) 2007 Florida Times Union. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.