As the sun retired during twilight last Thursday evening, April 27, a dozen or so Marbleheaders of all ages stood atop Goldthwait Reservation’s chilly rock embankment, peering into the vast night sky.

Here, they all waited patiently as Marbleheader Jim Keating, a retired Marblehead High School science teacher, assured them an object orbiting 211 miles above earth would appear at exactly 8:06 p.m.

With a couple minutes to spare before its arrival, Keating, who is more than willing to share his knowledge about the night sky and whose educational pedigree includes studying at the Space Institute at Johns Hopkins, which controls the Hubble Telescope, directed everyone’s attention to the night’s full pink moon that reflected, sparkled off Marblehead waters as waves rolled in and out.

“This night is unique in that the sun sets exactly when the moon rises,” Keating informed everyone. “Jupiter will be visible to the west. Venus will be viewable, but it’s in the horizon, so it may be difficult to see.”

“Oh. My. Gosh. I see it. There it is,” proclaimed 8-year-old Frankie Kennedy.

His sister, 10-year-old Carolyn, added, “That’s a plane, Frankie, silly.”

“Oh, look, there it is kids. Look, look,” said Keating, pointing to the sky. “What time is it?”

As Keating had determined in his research on NASA’s website before heading to the reservation, the International Space Station was promptly on time.

“Is it like a spaceship or something?” asked Carolyn.

“Well, sort of,” said Keating.

Posing a question the way a teacher would, Keating asked, “Kids, what do you think will happen to it when it gets near the moon?”

Stumped. An adult added, “The earth’s shadow will make it disappear.”

“That’s right,” said Keating.

Sure enough, the International Space Station, which travels at speeds of about 17,500 miles per hour to remain in orbit, looked like a glistening rock placed in a slingshot and spun around. Quickly, it crept its way across the sky then, like magic, vanished.

This is how the evening of astronomy, moon observation and sky watching began as part of the newly established Graham Hale Gardner Cultural Series, named after a young man who passed away from multiple sclerosis and treasured the Goldthwait Reservation.

For close to two hours, Keating and Dr. Eric Reines, a geriatric physician and amateur astronomer, navigated novice stargazers through our Milky Way and solar system, volunteering their time and telescopes in doing so.

“I’m retired,” said Keating. “People were kind enough to show me what’s up there when I was little, so this is just payback.”

“I got an email about tonight,” said Dave Kennedy, who serves on the Goldthwait’s board and brought Frankie and Carolyn out for the event. “So I thought it would be an opportunity for them to learn some scientific facts about the local sky.”

Shaking his head, Frankie spontaneously, enthusiastically offered up, “I just love science!”

After they watched the Space Station disappear, they gathered down on the reservation’s marshy grass, where Reines’ high-powered telescope that he bought in 1986 to observe Halley’s Comet pointed west toward our solar system’s largest planet, Jupiter, and four of its 16 known moons.

“It’s a good all-around telescope for visuals, photography; it is well made and sturdy,” said Reines. “Tonight, with the full moon, it washes out the sky, so we won’t be able to see much by way of star constellations.”

An amazed Sandra Winter, after seeing Jupiter in all its massive glory through Reines’ telescope, said, “That was wild. If you look close enough, you can actually make out Jupiter’s lines.”

Likewise, Winter’s friend, Gene Callahan had never seen Jupiter through a telescope before.

“Years ago, when I was at Salem State, I saw Saturn’s rings,” Callahan said, “Now I can add Jupiter to the list.”

Close by, Keating’s large binoculars, set up on a tripod, gave those in attendance a peek at the moon’s craters up close and “double stars,” a term used to describe two stars whose gravitational pull causes them to dance around one another.

Asked what he enjoys most about sharing his knowledge about the night sky with people, especially children, he referenced his own childhood.

“The best thing for a kid to do is look up; look, you don’t need a telescope to see what’s up there in order to enjoy the night sky,” said Keating, adding however that he’s happy to inform people what they’re looking at.

“We’re starstruck,” he added. “It amazes me that we’re made out of the same elements that are found at the core of stars.”

By 9:30 p.m., everyone had left the reservation with a better understanding of that big, giant sky above our heads, and Keating said there would be plenty more opportunities for Marbleheaders to participate in astronomy nights this spring and summer.

Article source: http://www.wickedlocal.com/marblehead/features/x1398948806/All-eyes-on-skies-at-Goldthwait-astronomy-night