E-Comet Newsletter of the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association |
|
Dear Friends:
As we move toward the winter solstice, when the sun tips back toward the sun after the longest night of the year, we begin to reflect on the close of 2021. This has been a year unlike any other: a year of change, a year of gratitude, and a year of new beginnings. I am thrilled to see our Look Up Program launch this month and share the wonder of Loines Observatory with Nantucket students, teachers, and their families. Also launching this month is the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which is considered to be one of the most significant scientific achievements of the 21st century.
I’d like to offer a special and sincere thank you to our team, our Board, and our supporters for all that you have taught me over the past few months, for your patience and your enthusiasm, and most importantly your commitment to the MMA. From the skies, to the land, to the seas, this organization is truly a portal to the natural world for those who are ready to let curiosity lead the way. I hope you'll join me in support of science education and consider renewing your membership or making a contribution towards our year-end campaign.
Wishing you all the peace and joy of the season,
|
|
Joanna Roche
Executive Director
|
|
The Maria Mitchell Association's new Look Up Program is set to launch on Wednesday, December 8th. The Look Up Program provides the opportunity for every student or teacher in the Nantucket school system, public and private, to visit Loines Observatory with their families and learn from our professional astronomers. We are thrilled to offer this program completely free-of-charge!
At Look Up, MMA astronomers will lead constellation tours and guide participants through different viewing stations outside the observatory domes. Students will be able to peek at our historic 8-inch Alvan Clark refractor and our modern 24-inch research telescope and then admire their live views projected on large screens outdoors. Students will also have the opportunity to talk with professional astronomers and learn about the cutting-edge research being conducted at the Maria Mitchell Observatory.
In December, there will be a Look Up Program on Wednesday, December 8th and Thursday, December 9th from 6-7:30PM. No registration is required to attend this program.
|
|
Giving Tuesday - There's Still Time to Participate! |
|
Yesterday was Giving Tuesday - a global day of giving. As one of Nantucket's oldest non-profits, the MMA has been serving learners of all ages for over 100 years. This summer alone, we served over 12,000 individuals who explored the sky, land, and sea of Nantucket Island through our award-winning programs, events, tours, and facilities.
It is because of your support that we are able to offer these experiences and share in the excitement of science. We are incredibly grateful for your support and we appreciate the many ways you honor our namesake’s legacy and contribute to our mission.
With thanks to the generosity of a Maria Mitchell Association Board Member, we will be matching all online donations received through today, December 1, up to $5,000. Your tax-deductible contribution will have double the impact!
|
|
Everyday Science Kits at Stroll |
|
This Saturday at 10am, the MMA will be handing out two different science kits in front of the Atheneum. Come by to pick up a "Slippin' Away" kit on coastal erosion and an astronomy-focused "Life Cycle of a Massive Star" kit!
|
|
After a few twists and turns, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is now set to launch on Wednesday, December 22nd. The JWST is the largest and most complex space telescope ever built – the premier observatory of the next decade.
The observatory will provide a new view of the cosmos and push the field of astronomy into a new era. The telescope will observe the universe in the infrared, peering inside dust clouds to study light from distant parts of the universe for the very first time – the first galaxies that formed about 13.5 billion years ago – and give us insight into how our universe formed. It will also explore distant worlds in other solar systems, as well as objects in our own solar system. The JWST will extend the scientific discoveries of other NASA missions like the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite.
Keep an eye out for more information on the launch of this incredible scientific achievement! And, if you missed it, you can watch the MMA's Science Speaker Series featuring Dr. Stephanie LaMassa discussing the JWST on the MMA YouTube channel.
|
|
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.”
-Edith Andrews
|
|
Keep Calm and Bird On
By Ginger Andrews
|
|
December is not the end of the birding year, but it is the end of the year list, if you keep one. Still, the annual Christmas Bird Count is a catch-up opportunity. Begun in 1900, it is the longest-running “citizen science” effort, and has grown in locations and number of observers every year.
But it's also a time to look back and smack the forehead over errors and correct them. Scott Weidensaul once wrote that birders who have made few mistakes have not been birding very long. Misidentification happens for all kinds of reasons—poor lighting, incomplete views, expectations, unfamiliar plumage, or simple ignorance.
|
|
The MMA is incredibly grateful for our community partners and collaborators who support our efforts to make science education opportunities available to learners of all ages.
We want to extend a special thank you to ReMain Nantucket for their support of our Everyday Science kits. Since the start of this summer, we've given out over 500 take-home science activities for FREE with thanks to ReMain. From Chemistry to Astronomy to Ecology, we've given out nine different types of activities, and we have a few more planned for 2022.
|
|
Did you miss our pop-up Science Speaker Series celebrating the launch of the JWST? You can watch the recording on our YouTube channel!
Watch the lecture, "Unveiling the Mysteries of the Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope" with Dr. Stephanie LaMassa, using the link below.
|
|
|
Listen to the latest episode of "Looking Skyward," a podcast with MMA Director of Astronomy, Dr. Regina Jorgenson, on WCAI. In this episode, Dr. Jorgenson discusses the possible discovery of an extragalactic exoplanet in the Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as M51.
|
|
While doing your holiday shopping, consider supporting the Maria Mitchell Association by adding us as your selected organization on Amazon Smile!
Simply go to smile.amazon.com and search for the "Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association." Anytime you're shopping on Amazon, make sure you go through smile.amazon.com, and .5% of your purchase will go to us with no fees or extra cost!
|
|
The Maria Mitchell Association creates opportunities for all to develop a life-long passion for science through education, research, and first-hand exploration of the sky, land, and sea of Nantucket Island. |
|
Please invest in the Maria Mitchell Association: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
