Students Learn More About Astronomy at Telescope Demonstration

Members of The Alden Astronomical Society visited Quinsigamond Community College to discuss astronomy and demonstrate a telescope donated to the college earlier this year.

On April 29, John Root, Library Telescope Program Coordinator, and Jim Zebrowski, Aldrich Astronomical Society President, gave a presentation about the history of the telescope donation program and amateur astronomy. They discussed star hopping, a technique to find objects in the night sky; aurorae; meteorites; and many other topics.

Attendees included Charles Stevenson, who donated the Modified Orion StarBlast 4.5 inch Astro Reflector telescope in honor of his wife, Jodi LaBoffa. She is a QCC student in the Human Services Department, and also attended the event. Students from Professor Andria Schwortz’s astronomy classes (SCI 140 and SCI 135) attended, along with friends and family, staff and other community members. There was a lively Q&A session afterwards.

Unfortunately it was a cloudy night, so they were not able to observe the stars on that night. The telescope is available to be checked out from the library, with a kit that includes a variable zoom eyepiece, instruction manual, guide to constellations, and head lamp. It can be checked out for one week at a time