E-Comet Newsletter of the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association |
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Dear Friends –
These last few days have had the summer feels to them! Take that extra moment to savor it all - the breeze on your bare arm, the sound of the gulls, the smell of the ocean, and the starry nights.
The are so many amazing programs this month at the MMA – jump in and try one. We look forward to welcoming you back! And, if you are in need of inspiration, try reading this favorite poem of mine. What would you do?
The Summer Day by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean--
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down--
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
My best to you,
Joanna
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Joanna Roche
Executive Director
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Barn Owl Program Update:
Bob Kennedy, Ginger Andrews, and our invaluable volunteers, Kim & Tom Griswold, checked over 50 Barn Owl Boxes last week. Bob will be sending out his detailed report to the Barn Owl Box sponsors, but we did get the exciting news that the most populated box had five owlets. That was a wonderful surprise. Sonya Keane is shown here with a nearly ready to fledge owlet.
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Look Up Program at Loines Observatory
June 13th, 14th, 15th & 16th
9:00pm - 10:00pm
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Join our professional astronomers for an impressive tour of Nantucket’s night sky. Get a chance to view the Moon, planets, bright stars, nebulae, and even other galaxies! Learn about the cutting-edge research being conducted by the Maria Mitchell Observatory astronomers and interns.
This program is designed to be interesting for all ages! Programs take place at 59 Milk Street Extension. In the case of inclement weather, programs will be cancelled.
Look Up is a special version of the Open Night program and is free for Nantucket students and their families. Each student will receive a Look Up T-shirt and a star chart. We also welcome all teachers and other school employees to join us for this program. We would like to give a special thank you to the Weezie Foundation for generously funding this program, along with support from our donors. No registration required.
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Stargazer Gala - Under the Sea |
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The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association’s annual fundraising event, The Stargazer Gala, is a not-to-be-missed event hosted at a private home overlooking Nantucket Sound. Party-goers will enjoy breathtaking views, dancing to The Sultans, delicious food by Island Kitchen, games, stargazing with our professional astronomers, and more!
Tickets are now available, and like last year, we expect the event will sell out quickly! Secure your tickets via the link below or by calling 508-228-9198.
We look forward to seeing you under the stars and on the dance floor!
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Earth Story Walk & Talk with Dr. Rich Blundell
Dr. Rich Blundell of the MMA launches a new program that will let participants walk through the history of planet Earth, each stride will account for approximately one million years of natural history. Along the way he will stop to explore the major thresholds of geologic time and draw on the local setting whenever possible to help tell the story. He asks you to come ambulate and contemplate the established, scientific understandings and also reconsider how the events and processes of deep time have led to our current global predicament. By considering the broader scales of life on Earth, we will gain new insights to reinterpret the science in more meaningful ways.
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Join us For Opening Day
June 6th
Aquarium,
Natural Science Museum,
and Mitchell House Hours:
Monday- Friday 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Research Center
Saturday 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Properties Pass: $20.00 Adult, $12.00 2-16, Under 2 Free
We are all looking forward to seeing you including, Cthulhu the Octopus!
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Four Centuries Domestic Tour
A unique and extremely popular collaborative walking tour with the MMA’s Deputy Director & Curator of the Mitchell House, the Nantucket Preservation Trust, and the Nantucket Historical Association that looks at the changes in domestic life over four centuries and how it shaped homes, buildings, neighborhoods, and land use. Participants should meet at the Oldest House on Sunset Hill (tour will end on Main Street). Tour includes brief visits inside each building visited.
No reservations necessary.
$10.00 per person.
Saturday, June 4, 10AM to Noon
Preserving the Monuments of Our Ancestors: How to Properly Clean Historic Gravestones
Join the curator of the Mitchell House and the Prospect Hill Cemetery Association historian for a short talk about stone monuments and their conservation. The class will then move to the Prospect Hill Cemetery where participants will learn how to properly clean stone monuments.* Class will be hands on so wear appropriate clothes.
Reservations required.
$10.00 for MMA Member; $15 for Non-Member.
Please call 508.228.2896 to register.
Saturday, June 11, 10AM to Noon*
*Please Note: This class is to teach others so that they may clean their family’s stone monuments. One must speak with the sextant of a cemetery before doing this. One must not work on stones not belonging to their family unless it is through a special program that has been condoned by the cemetery and other officials.
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“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.”
-Edith Andrews
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Keep Calm and Bird On
By Ginger Andrews
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MMA Bird-A-Thon
The weekend was a great success. Ten local birders combined their efforts to find 97 species in 24 hours. Two Black-necked Stilts were a highlight, although a Wilson's Phalarope gave them stiff competition for rarity. Also notable, were two Whip-poor-wills, a Chuck-will's-widow, and a Glossy Ibis. Local warblers and flycatchers are showing up daily, but there was a general lack of migrating warblers on the day itself. Ginger Andrews had some musings about this deficit, "It has been a weird spring; more warbler species began dropping in two days later. but, that's birding."
Photo by Tom Griswold
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ASTRONOMY NEWS- SKY QUALITY MONITORING |
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Using Sky Quality Meters, we have teamed up with nantucketlights.org and are actively monitoring the darkness of our night sky.
The measurements taken under this program will allow comparison of the sky brightness at different places on the island and document the amount of light pollution that exists and its evolution over time so that the effectiveness of efforts to mitigate light pollution can be assessed.
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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 talks about about the first images of the black hole at the Milky Way's center.
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Enjoy the MMA's podcast, "The Nature of Nantucket", brought to you by 97.7 ACKFM. This program airs on 97.7 every Sunday at 7:20AM. This week we talk to Izzy Gaw about how she came to Nantucket, what's happening this summer, and her plans for creating an extremely fun museum full of animals!
Also, check out our weekly "Star Report" written and presented by MMA Research Fellow, Celia Mulcahey.
You can listen to each podcast via Apple or Spotify via the players below.
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Learn more about Maria Mitchell and the MMA with "Maria Mitchell's Attic," a blog written on a weekly basis by the MMA's Deputy Director and Curator, Jascin Leonardo Finger.
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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. |
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Support the Maria Mitchell Association: |
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