By Larry Berz
2014. A new year dawns differently for each life in the County. Rich and poor, healthy or infirm, man or woman, child or elder, believer or non-believer, Democrat or Republican, professional or student, farmer or financier, retired or rigorous, leading or following, we all dwell on the “pale blue dot” seeking meaning and fulfillment — materially and morally.
The celestial canopy continues in its ever-regular pattern of sun, moon, planets and stars, a clockwork regulating our story. Who could not approach January nights without a nod to great Orion, its comforting hour-glass configuration of stars reigning over shuttles to the Mall or nightly basketball? Who wouldn’t delight in the glittering spectacle of the “Dog Star” Sirius cascading us with multi-colors beneath Orion’s “Belt”? Who accidentally captures a glimpse of the “Seven Sisters” — the Pleidades — riding the shoulder of terrible Taurus the V-shaped bull? Who could ignore the presence of brilliant Jupiter, serenely shedding its unforgettable bright golden light from the heights of Gemini throughout the night? Even from the Walmart parking lot!
Who could ever forget the reappearance of stunning Venus as a morning star low on the south-eastern horizon an hour before dawn? Who remembers the uplifting awe of watching the International Space Station parade across the sky at 18,000 miles per hour in just a few minutes? Who would ignore the nightly or daily passage of the Moon, teasing us with its phasing and finery? Who recalls the “Big Dipper” returning to its Spring-approaching posture, upright in north-eastern skies.
The Universe, from our point of view appears regular and predictable, but that’s far from the case. Change, catastrophic change awaits at a moment’s notice. Case in point: just several days ago, a star exploded in a galaxy totally unknown to the everyday pedestrian and yet for those knowledgeable of such things, a telescope would reveal a tiny “cigar” – shaped cloud of Galactic fuzz with a the most exquisite diamond-point of light emerging amongst its nebular boundary — a supernova’s light just reached Aroostook skies after an 11 million-year journey!
Astronomy can change your life — and I suppose I am living proof of such a transformation. That Power took me from the 46th floor of the First National Bank Building in downtown Chicago and replaced my briefcase and three-piece suit with a small science center, a school of mathematics and science, and frozen fingers before dawn with portable telescopes.
But it’s a beautiful calling, which, for me at least, replaced the dollar with a dream. And I want nothing more than to share that new impetus with you, my neighbors and community friends and followers. So would you accept my invitation to visit Paradis Shop ‘N Save in Caribou on Monday early evening, February 3rd, to meet me and my students from the Maine School of Science and Mathematics. If you and your family always wanted a telescope or at least a peek at your Universe, come on board, dress appropriately, and live the dream!
For more information, please call The Francis Malcolm Institute at 488-5451 today!
Larry Berz of Caribou is director of Easton’s Francis Malcolm Planetarium and astronomy instructor at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics.
