Merrimack College opens observatory for clear view of lunar eclipse

By Bethany Bray
Staff Writer

Sat, May 17 2008

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Folks stopping by the regular Wednesday night stargazing session at the Merrimack College astronomy observatory on Feb. 20 were treated to a special sight — a full lunar eclipse, in perfect view through the clear night sky — the likes of which won't happen again until at least 2010.

North Andover resident Fred Sammartino, a volunteer with the North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club, was there to answer questions and supervise the use of Merrimack's high power telescope. About 60 folks stopped by to view the eclipse, he said.

"Sometimes when you're looking through a telescope, you're looking at something that hasn't changed in millions of years. Being able to see something that changed within a period of a few minutes was exciting," Sammartino said, especially for visitors with young children.

The clear conditions on the night of Feb. 20 also made the eclipse especially breathtaking.

"We were quite lucky. Lunar eclipses only happen every three or four years, and even then you have be on the side of the Earth that's facing the moon to see it. You also have to have good weather to see them, which is rare sometimes in New England," said Sammartino. "It was a special thing you only see a few times in your lifetime, an especially pretty eclipse. It turned a shade of red, due to the sunsets and sunrises all over the Earth."

Besides the eclipse, folks could also see the planet Saturn and a star named Regulus, the heart of the "leo the lion" constellation, through the telescope and the three "made a nice triangle," he said.

The stargazers were some of the last people on earth to see a disabled spy satellite, visible through the telescope. Later that night the satellite was shot down over the Pacific Ocean in a planned operation by the government. The satellite had a tank filled with harmful hydrazine fuel, which could have harmed people if the satellite and fuel tank made it through the atmosphere intact.

Sammartino, who enjoys astronomy as a hobby, has volunteered for five years at the regular Wednesday night viewings at Merrimack. Offered free to the public by Merrimack, the viewings are staffed by volunteers from the North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club, based in Groveland.

Russell Pinizzotto, physics professor and dean of the science and engineering faculty at Merrimack College, is a member of the NSAAC, and helps train the volunteers to use Merrimack's equipment.

Merrimack's telescope is the largest instrument North of Boston that's open to the public, said Sammartino. The Wednesday night viewings draw all sorts of astronomy fans, from families with young children and Scout troops to couples looking for a romantic date night, he said.

The eclipse on Feb. 20 was the last one New Englanders will see until December 2010, said Sammartino.

"Let's hope it's clear that night," he said with a chuckle.

Gaze at galaxies far, far away

The observatory at Mendell Hall, Merrimack College, 315 Turnpike St., North Andover is open for public viewing every Wednesday night with good, clear weather from dusk to 10 p.m. The evenings are free of charge and staffed by volunteers from the North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club. For more information or to find out if the weather is clear enough for stargazing on a Wednesday, call 978-837-5011 or visit www.nsaac.org.

Open year-round, the gallery is not heated or cooled because the telescope needs to be the same temperature as the outside air. Visitors climb the stairs into the dome, and are treated to a birds-eye view of North Andover. The NSAAC member on duty will type in coordinates of an object to view into the computer, and the telescope will turn and calibrate itself to find the requested spot in the night sky.

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