Astronomy

Join the North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club (NSAAC) hosts their monthly meeting, and the public is welcome to come see the stars! For our June meeting we're going to take advantage of expected clear skies and do some observing from the fields near the Boxford Community Center at the corner of Middleton and Elm St, Boxford, Massachusetts 01921

Stretching high overhead at this time of the year once the sun has fully set and darkness has settled in, from vantage points far removed from light-polluted city skies, is the starry river we call the Milky Way. In the indoor portion of this evening's program, we will go on a photographic tour of the celestial jewels strewn within its starry fields that are best viewed through a telescope. Such so-called deep sky objects include star clusters, stellar nurseries, supernova remnants, and more. Presented by physicist Gary Meehan

Come be a part of the “Great American Eclipse.” A partial solar eclipse will be visible in Massachusetts on August 21, and we’ll celebrate by building solar-eclipse viewers to safely watch the event. We’ll also learn a little about astronomy and discover why eclipses happen. Our next solar eclipse won’t be visible until 2024, so don’t miss this chance! 

Bundle up and join the Trustees at Crane Beach in Ipswich for a chance to learn to identify the constellations of Spring! At this time of year there are no fewer than ten first-magnitude (really bright!) stars in the evening sky at once. No other season, not even winter, can offer so many. We’ll set up our viewing station on the boardwalk at Crane Beach to gaze at the more common clusters such as the Big Dipper, and also at those we might not be familiar with, including the zodiacal constellations Leo the Lion and Virgo the Maiden. We will have a couple of telescopes to share, but folks are welcome and encouraged to bring their own.