By CLAUDIA HARMON WORTHEN
More than 70 people ventured out in the crisp, clear night of February 15 to learn about the cosmos and view planets, nebulae and star clusters through high-powered telescopes. Many thanks to the Cambria Historical Society for helping to host the Beautify Cambria’s Dark Sky event on the museum grounds. The next Dark Sky event will be Saturday, October 11, with details in the following months.
Kelly Beatty, astronomical scientist from Chelmsford, Massachusetts, presented a laser pointer tour of the night sky. He enthralled the audience with stories of constellations, the Parade of Planets (a rather rare arrangement of planets from Earth’s viewpoint), the Pleiades (the open cluster of stars in the Taurus constellation) and more. An added treat was Space-X racing by, huge and bright against the dark sky.
Astrophysicist Dave Majors introduced the newest stargazing smart telescope, the Seestar S50. It is small and rather strange looking, but it can project celestial objects onto a flat screen monitor with amazing accuracy. And attendees lined up to look at the Parade of Planets through David Gibbs’ high-powered telescope.
Bjorn Schaller introduced his “projection mapping” technique on a circular disc. With special projecting techniques, he could create images on uneven surfaces like trees and store mannequins. Scott McMillan presented and described beautiful deep space photos by local astrophotographers on the large 135-inch screen.
Event attendees were treated to decadent treats and hot chocolate. Thank you to Summer, owner of Once a Day Desserts, for donating scrumptious chocolate chip caramel filled blondies.
The next Beautify Cambria event is the ever-popular Bee, Butterfly and Bat Faire to be held at the Cambria Historical Museum grounds on Sunday, May 4, from noon to 4 p.m. Speakers from Santa Barbara, the Charles Paddock Zoo, and Cal Poly will share insight into the amazing feats of bees, bats and butterflies. There will be live music by Curti Creek, local honey, food, mead, and pollinator related products, educational materials, and gift items. A silent auction will help Beautify Cambria maintain its many landscaping projects around town. Several kid-friendly activities will educate and keep the kids busy, and much more.
For more information, go to the www.beautifycambria.org website.
Photo above: Michelle and Ryan Sook with daughters Lily and Eden Rose having fun.
