Join the ChesMont Astronomical Society for a wonderful evening of astronomy on Saturday, Aug.11, from 5:30 to 11:30 p.m. at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, 2 Mark Bird Lane, Elverson (off Route 345 at Hopewell Road). Rain/cloud date is Sunday, Aug. 12. The program will feature speakers, astronomy presentations, and activities for kids. Public viewing of the wonders of the Milky Way will be available through more than 20 amateur, high-end telescopes.
The highlight of the evening is 10 Object Row. Ten of our members’ telescopes will be focused on a different deep sky object so the public gets a variety of astronomical objects to look at.
At 5:30 p.m. Gates Open (solar observing if clear); 6 p.m. Kids Corner Educational Activities; 7 p.m. Opening Remarks; 7:30 p.m. James Aguirre, associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania; 8:15 pm Keynote Speaker Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer, Franklin Institute Science Museum; 9:15 p.m. drawing of the grand prize followed by public stargazing through amateur telescopes.
Admission and parking is free. Donations are greatly appreciated and needed to support the event.
More information about the program is available by calling Hopewell at 610-582-8773, ext. 0, or visiting the Chesmont Astronomical Society website at www.chesmontastro.org or on Facebook at Chesmont Astronomical Society observing+
About Derrick Pitts, keynote speaker:
Derrick is currently the Chief Astronomer and Director of the Fels Planetarium at The Franklin Institute. He’s also been a NASA Solar System Ambassador since 2009 and serves as the “Astrobiology Ambassador” for the NASA/MIRS/UNCF Special Program Corporation’s Astrobiology Partnership Program. One of his newest honors is an appointment to the outreach advisory board for the world’s largest telescope, the new Thirty-Meter-Telescope at Mauna Kea in Hawaii. He has been named as one of the 50 most important African-Americans in research science.
