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Long before the advent of Mercury Vapor Lamps, Halogen Lamps and the other products of urban and suburban sprawl, children would spend lazy summer evenings laying in the grass of their backyards, wondering about the twinkling stars in the dark and velvety sky above.
In The United States, this would include kids wondering if there were really UFOs, if that moving star was John Glenn's Friendship Seven, or if someone like them would ever explore the heavens.
Girls would follow the exploits of Russian Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who, in 1963, Launched aboard Vostok 6, her voyage Lasting 48 orbits totaling 70 hours 50 minutes in space. She spent more time in orbit than all the U.S. Mercury astronauts combined. One can imagine a young Sally Ride on the ground in her backyard, imagining the contents of the Heavens but probably never thinking that she would be the first American Woman in Space.
But that was in a far more innocent time. A time of Hula-Hoops and a space race that excited the world , inspired a nation because a President said we would get to the Moon in a decade, and that sadly ended with the words, "Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."
This was a time of dreams and the stars and the hope they brought invoked these dreams in children and adults alike. The Summer Milky Way is fully observable only in the darkest areas of our broad and wide country. With the stars almost gone in our light polluted skies, where will the children find their dreams, which will enrich us all, insuring our future?
Metacom Observatory is dedicated to bringing the night skies within observable and palatable reach of these little hands. The Observatory, privately funded and operated, reaches out through word of mouth, school offerings, Boy Scout star parties and impromptu gatherings on any given night of those who "want to look through your telescope." The Observatory is in the process of outreach to our community of Bristol County, Rhode Island through school groups and is attempting to set up regular observing dates for children and their parents. If you would like to set up an evening observing appointment, weather permitting, sessions at this time are free. E-mail us.
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