Click here for the Jupiter and Venus Conjunction Star Party

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So far the prediction is for clouds tonight. But keep looking up, and call the hotline at 917-529-2359 at about 7 to see if we’ll be outside. If we do go out, we are scheduled to be at Fort Tryon Park by the Cloisters. Click here for a map.

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Thanks to “Streets Where We Live” for directing some traffic this way. When I first approached the NYC Parks people about this project, they were excited about the possibility of people using the Parks at night responsibly. Even Commissioner Castro mentioned to me during the Inwood Star Fest that he thought this was a great way to get people to help “Take Back The Parks.”

It is not a stated goal of the International Year of Astronomy to help with urban renewal and quality of life issues, for obvious reasons. But as I stated in papers to the professional astronomical community at the American Astronomical Society conferences in June 2008 and January 2009, there is no way to avoid it. In fact, urban astronomers have a peculiar obligation to help their communities help keep their parks safe for use after dark.

Astronomers help the community understand the value of beautiful night skies and help to build family and community involvement with science and education. These things are not possible if you have dealers and muggers in your midst. Our families want their children growing up not in fear, and not being proud to have “lived through all that stuff”, they want their kids to grow up to be successful and intelligent contributors to their families, their neighborhoods and to their societies. There is no better entry point for citizenship than through science education, and there is no better starting point for science education than Astronomy. But appreciation of this science and all the natural wonders it encompasses (which are so easily appreciated without understanding astrophysics) is not possible if the location and groundwork are denied.

We need to attend the meetings with our councilmembers and our political figures. We need to assure that our parks are safe for our families.

Jason Kendall
Director, Inwood Astronomy Project
http://www.inwoodastronomy.org
NASA/JPL Solar system Ambassador, New York City
http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/ambassador/profiles/Jason_Kendall.htm

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About Jason Kendall

I am the NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador for New York City. I hold a Master of Science in Astronomy from New Mexico State University and am currently adjunct faculty at William Paterson University. I have led numerous "starwatching parties" and astronomy events in New York City, New Mexico, Minnesota and Texas. It all started way back in the fourth grade by the encouragement of two noted astronomers, Charles Schweighauser and Bart Bok. I saw Saturn through Charlie's telescope at then Sangamon State University on a clear Illinois night, and Bart encouraged me under those stars to study hard to come visit him at Kitt Peak National Observatory. I finally did make it down there about a decade after Bart passed away, and I found the favorite spots in Tucson, Arizona, where Bart and his wife Priscilla would spend when they were not gazing at the stars. Bart and his wife were pioneers in the study of the Milky Way, and their studies of the starforming regions called Bok Globules. It's even in my family. My great-grandfather was a Midwestern minister who used to preach his sermons out under the dark, cloudless nights. He always believed that getting out and experiencing the wonders of the natural world was a central part of being human. My family has always been inspired by his words: "We look up to look within." I hope that you'll join me under the stars or at one of my talks.

Come see what's up in the sky!

Jason Kendall
NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador to New York City

The Inwood Astronomy Project is thankful for the support of the NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors Program, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, the New York Public Library, the International Year of Astronomy and the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York


We look up to look within