July 18, 2019
2019-07-18T19:00:00
2 North Main Street
Andover, MA 01810
Understanding Our Universe
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Space-time is big, both in size, the number of objects (exoplanets, stars, galaxies, etc) in it, and its 13.8 billion year age. Our daily lives don't prepare us to comprehend these astronomical quantities. We can see about 5000 stars from a non-light polluted area. A small amateur telescope will show us millions of objects, and professional telescopes have cataloged billions of objects. This presentation will offer some perspective on what can be seen with a telescope and how we categorize them in ways to improve our understanding of our universe. Brewster LaMacchia is an Andover resident and the public outreach coordinator for the North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club. He's organized events that have enabled thousands of people over the last 10 years to look through volunteer's telescopes to see everything from the rings of Saturn to galaxies millions of light years away. On Tuesday, July 23rd, Brewster will facilitate the field trip to the Mendel Observatory at Merrimack College.