Report

On April 20th Greater Portland Astronomical Society (USA), joined by a member of Southern Maine Astronomers (USA), held a GAM LUNA EVENT on the campus of University of Southern Maine in Portland, Maine (USA). The event was for any members of the public or students of USM that happened to pass by and for members of a class at Southworth Planetarium, which is on that campus too. The class had over 30 people, who all joined our star party.


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This shows our telescope set up and waiting for the star party to begin on the USM campus. Several students came and looked at the moon before it got dark.

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In this photo Joan Chamberlin (left) and Maureen McDonough (right) are poised and ready for action at the GAM LUNA EVENT.

As it got dark, more people began to arrive, and the class from the planetarium joined us. They were all excited to be able to look at the moon, Mars, Venus, and Saturn through the telescope. Many of them had never looked through a telescope. Light pollution was pretty bad and we had a big light blaring in our eyes, but we still managed to show them some beautiful sights.

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Ron Thompson, our friend from Southern Maine Astronomers, is showing people what’s up in the sky. Joan Chamberlin of GPAS is helping a visitor look through her telescope at the moon or Saturn.

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People are lined up to look at the celestial sites. The moon with its beautiful craters and Saturn with its rings were big hits.

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Here people are enjoying the view. The GAM LUNA EVENT was a big success.


Report and Pictures by Joan Chamberlin of Greater Portland Astronomical Society

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