More mice and fireworks

I managed to clear more trails Saturday and Sunday. The Tower trail is now clear from bottom of the hill to Dogleg corner. The Bartlett trail is completely open. The Farrington trail is open 3/4's of the way from Raven's perch to lower parking lot. I hiked the other trails to see how bad of shape they were in. The Amanda trail beyond Scout Heaven is a mess. The Klondike trail is not quite as bad. The Pileated path from Land's End to Poet's Rock is also in rough shape. While I was clearing the Tower trail I came upon a Red Spotted Newt. I did not have my camera with me nor my camera phone so I was unable to get a picture. I managed to do a little mowing around the clubhouse, the dome and path to the toolshed. I was unable to keep the trimmer running so I couldn't do any weed wacking.

The mice have several nests in the telescope shed. I removed a dead one and saw another one running away.Saturday night I was treated to a natural and man made fireworks show. I was able to see fireworks from someplace near Springfield/Holyoke as they burst just above the hills. At the same time there was a thunderstorm in the same general area sending lightning bolts across the sky. Arunah stayed dry but some storms were not far off. I did get a picture of the setting sun illuminating thunderclouds to the east. Unfortunately I did not get much observing in due to the persistent clouds.

Barry

A Hill Full of 8th Graders

Tuesday, June 16 turned out to be an amazing night on Arunah Hill. Seven van loads of 8th graders from the Springfield Renaissance School arrived a bit before sunset for an evening of stargazing and exploration. Thanks to Keith Wright, one of the school's science teachers, for arranging the visit.

We treated the kids to a couple of rocket launches as a warm up, then took them on a hike out to Scout Heaven. After that, it was to the pavilion for a welcome and orientation talk and a little history of Arunah Hill. The kids were fascinated with the pavilion's timber frame construction techniques.

By sunset all eyes were scanning the sky to try to see the first star of the night. One of the kids found Arcturus, then Vega, Saturn, and Regulus emerged. Quickly lines formed at Ray Burk's small dob, Dan Carnevale's wonder refractor, but the longest lines of all were at the Gaertner. All 3 telescopes caused oohs and ahhs as the kids first looks at Saturn produced squeals of delight that the rings were really visible. The Gaertner was a joy, tracking beautifully and delivering crisp images. The kids were impressed with the 100 year old instrument.

A -8 magnitude Iridium flare caused quite a stir in the twilight. Once darkness descended we gave the kids a green laser tour of the constellations of spring and summer.

The kids asked great questions and soaked up the wonders of the night sky. For many kids, this was there first time under a dark sky. They asked great questions and quickly learned to master the skills of using telescopes.

All too soon it was time for the kids to head back to the vans. It was fun to be around so much energy and enthusiasm, and I'm sure some of these future scientists will long remember their evening on Arunah Hill.

Ravens, Woodpeckers, Mowing, and Trail Clearing

The June work day was fun, efficient and even had some nice birding activity. Tom Walker and Kevin Collins weed whipped around the Gaertner, telescope shed, and club house before rushing off for the 5A's solar public observing program. Ray Burk was rejuvenated with his knee feeling good, and was a "mowing maniac" and got quite a bit of mowing done. Matt Payne did some shovel and rake work on the gravel road, smoothing out ruts, then took the mower from Ray and expanded the mowed area up at the top of the cl earning, then around the telescope pads. New member Andy Johnston worked with Barry Hervieux with loppers and a chain saw to open up the path from the clearing to the Pilated Perch lean-to. Dan Carnevale mowed around the barn and chainsawed some of the blow down on the lower trails.

After firing up some burgers and enjoying some watermelon, we settled in to a bit more mowing and trail clearing. The top of the Billy Farrington trail had be all but obscured, but now it's open and easily passable.

We got to watch a courtship flight, complete with screeches, from two ravens, then were treated to hearing a least 2 woodpeckers (one probably a pilated) working the trees at the edge of the clearing.

The weather was pleasant, and the black flies and mosquitoes were at a minimum. Not a bad June workday. Thanks to all.

Just a note, the July workday will be postponed until July 11 to not conflict with the 4th of July holiday.

-Ed

Realm of Galaxies

Yes, some observing did take place on Arunah Hill over the Mememorial Day weekend. Kevin, Barry, Rich, and others (?) had clear skies on Sunday night, despite the rain many of the rest of us experienced. Barry, Rich, and I also had some good stargazing on Monday night, and had fine views of the Sombrero and M-87, and the host of small galaxies around the M-84 & M86 pair. We also got a fine look at Saturn and at least 3 of it's moons.

Good passes of the International Space Station were seen on Friday, Sunday, and Monday night.

-Ed

We are not An Angry Mob

Saturday, May 23 was a great day on the hill. The day began with gathering of a large group of geocachers, looking to find the 5 caches hidden on the hill. Despite the blow down on the Billy Farington Trail, most cachers had no problems with the finds. A hot dog roast for lunch capped the caching events.

After that, with Jim Downing's leadership, about a dozen kids built rockets. Ranger Gary arrived right on time and set up his 7 station launch pad. Kids had a great time launching rockets. The "C" engines put the smaller rockets right out of site. I know several people got some great pictures, I'll post them as soon as I get them.

After a small ceremony for the100th anniversary of the Gaertner telescope, it was on to the turkey fry. burger grill, corn boil, and a great pot luck dinner. Whatever the Volants brought was a great appetizer, though I'm pretty sure Rich just made up a name for them, whatever they were. I'm proud to say I didn't set anything on fire, though I did make a bit of a grease spill on the extended north section of the pavilion floor.

After dinner, several of us stayed and enjoyed a nice camp fire and were even treated to a few sucker holes for a nice view of the dippers, Draco, Corona Borialis, and Hercules. The title from this posting comes from a comment made around the campfire by Barry's young daughter while playing with a stick in the fire... it seemed to fit the mood perfectly.

I'd guess at various times we had 50 or 60 people visit the hill, and I'm pretty sure all had a great time.
-Ed

Updated Forecast for Saturday May 23

Some passing showers during the daylight hours, partial clearing but some passing thunder showers at night. It won't slow down the celebration, though we might have to "shoot the holes" for stargazing.

I cut the grass tonight and got to enjoy the peace and tranquility of being alone on Arunah Hill, watching the stars come out. With bats and the night birds busy overhead, Arcturus was the start to emerge, quick followed by Saturn, then just the "top" of the winter circle: Castor and Pollux, flanked by Procyon and Capella. Soon Spica was visible, then by reversing the "arc", the whole big dipper. Saturn showed the way to Regulus and Denebola, and then most of the lion. The surprise to me is how much ealier Vega rises then it's summer triangle buddies. I got in the car, clicked on the radio to Brubeck's Take Five... a perfect choice. After that, I listened to the last two innings of a Red Sox win. Not bad for a work night.

There's another new addition on the hill... Pete brought up a portable observatory. It looks great, can't wait to use it.

Hope to see you all up on the hill.

-Ed

Hill Soggy, but Ready for a Birthday Party!

Arunah Hill has a new charcoal grill and 5 new "Geocaches" and is ready for the big May 23 Gaertner Birthday Party. Things were pretty soggy on the hill so I couldn't mow, but with sunny weather predicted this week we should be ready for Saturday.

If you don't know what "Geocaching" is all about, see : http://www.geocaching.com

-Ed