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| The New Hampshire Astronomical Society's Library Telescope Program |
| Marc Stowbridge |
| Thursday, Mar 10, 2016 at 8:00 PM |
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Our guest speaker this month is Marc Stowbridge, of the New Hampshire Astronomical Society. Marc was the brainchild behind the NHAS Library Telescope Program – an outreach effort to supply user-friendly loaner telescope to local libraries. What began in 2008 as a single effort to provide a loanable telescope for his local library evolved into the NHAS Library Telescope Program, a club-driven enterprise that has now placed telescopes in over 100 libraries in New Hampshire. The NHAS LTP has become the blueprint for similar programs around the country, including those maintained by the Kalamazoo, MI, Astronomical Society, St. Louis Astronomical Society, NorthWest Florida Astronomy Association, and the nearby Aldrich Astronomical Society. Besides relating the history of the NHAS LTP, Stowbridge will explain how each telescope (an Orion 4.5-inch Starblast) is modified and maintained for public use. His talk should prove valuable to any ATMoB member interested in providing a loaner telescope for his or her local library. In his own words, Marc Stowbridge became interested in astronomy as a child “when Sputnik flew and science became the weapon to turn back the Red Menace.” He began building large solid-fuel rockets in his basement. “After having blown a few holes in various driveways in my attempt to join the space race,” he notes, “I decided it might be safer to get into observational astronomy.”
A lifelong interest in amateur astronomy led to his joining the NHAS in 1999. A grandfather now, he doesn’t spend much time observing by himself, preferring instead to show “what’s up” at public sky-watches and star parties. As a volunteer NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, Stowbridge also speaks to groups interested space missions and the discoveries they provide.
Please join us for a pre-meeting dinner discussion at Changsho, 1712 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA at 6:00pm.
Please join us for a pre-meeting dinner discussion at Changsho, 1712 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA at 6:00pm before the meeting. |
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