Nature Done Wright

    I have a story in The Record today (Page L-3) about Bergen Community College’s weekly public astronomy program, which is beginning its fifth year.

The program is definitely worth a look:

http://northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk0JmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MTkxNzUz

   Every Saturday night, the college opens its two big telescopes to the public, and people can see — free of charge — the planets and nebulae and star clusters.

   I asked Roger Opstbaum, the astronomy professor who helped create  the observatory, what big astronomical events might be coming up that I can use as a "hook" for the story.

   And I found his reply most interesting, because it reflects the philosophy of this blog as well.

   His comment:  "Generally, … the subject doesn’t lend itself to a ‘hook’ so
well.  It lends itself to the fabric of things that are pleasant in life rather than specifically exciting. 

   "We cannot ‘fly people to the Moon’ but
we can show them mountains, hills, craters,  even shadows on the Moon
through the telescopes. 

   "We are unlikely to discover previously undiscovered moons of Jupiter, but the 4 large moons discovered by Galileo can be seen loud and clear."

   Similarly, this blog doesn’t deal with "news" so much as remind us (especially me) of all the amazing things there are in nature if we only nurture them a bit and take the time to observe.