March 23 – 29, 2015
Mt. Washington — Our region’s popular astronomer, Bob Berman, is in Alaska leading groups of aurora borealis seekers for The Old Farmer’s Almanac and Astronomy Magazine. He’s conducted aurora, or Northern Lights, trips since 1999 and reports that the displays are the best since 2000. Close-by, in Hadley, Mass., Kevin Collins, president of the Amherst Area Amateur Astronomy Association (5A’s) photographed the aurora, pictured above, last Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. Mr. Collins gives us the following background:
“The aurora activity seen in our area was the result of a G4 class geomagnetic storm that occurred on St. Patrick’s Day. A coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun buffeted the Earth’s magnetosphere creating the relatively intense storm, the strongest of the current solar cycle.
“While easier to see naked eye in locales far north of us, the aurora could be seen in our area as a faint grayish-white glow near the northern horizon. Only long exposure photographs such as mine would reveal the green and red colors. For the latest news, alerts, and pictures of daily space-weather events visit Spaceweather.com. Text and email alerts are available for a fee.”
Human curiosity about everything astronomical is in full bloom each spring at the Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF), a phenomenal astronomy, space and telescope event that takes place this year April 18th and 19th at Rockland Community College in Suffern, N.Y., a 2- to 3-hour drive from the Berkshires, depending on your location. Billed as the largest astronomy forum and telescope expo in the world, this is NEAF’s 24th year.
Internationally renowned speakers, a huge trade show and a Solar Star Party are main attractions. How-to sessions, activities for children, and updates on dark sky conservation add to the vitality of the event. Informal conversations with over 100 knowledgeable exhibitors are an integral part of the gathering.
An extraordinary opportunity at NEAF is safe solar viewing. Professionals and volunteers with considerable expertise share a diversity of telescopes with a variety of filters as well as other instruments that allow viewers a close-up look at our awe-inspiring sun. Admission to the solar viewing field is free of charge. For more information, click here.
Saturday speakers include leaders from NASA, Kitt Peak National Observatory and Sky & Telescope; on Sunday, the chief scientist for the Dawn Mission and UMass astronomer-author Alan Hirshfeld, among others. Saturday hours are 8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Sunday 10:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Peruse the full program and ticket information by clicking here.
