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News & Announcements

September CCAS Events (details below in the August 30, September 5, September 13 and September 19 entries and in the September 2023 FLL located on the Publications – Monthly Newsletter web page):

Lecture: September 7, 7:30 PM –  Dr. Manasvi Lingam, Life in the Cosmos (Zoom only)

CANCELLED – Cape Cod National Seashore Dark Sky Festival 2023: September 15 – 16 CANCELLED

Star Party:  September 20, 8 PM to 10 PM, Werner Schmidt Observatory

September 19, 2023 Update

The Star Party will be held on Wednesday, September 20, 2023 from 8 PM to 10 PM at the Werner Schmidt Observatory.

September 13, 2023 Update

The September 15 – 16 Cape Cod National Seashore Dark Sky Festival 2023 is cancelled due to weather.

September 5, 2023 Update

September Lecture – September 7, 7:30 PM

Dr. Manasvi Lingam, Assistant Professor of Astrobiology, Department of Aerospace, Physics and Space Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology (Zoom only)

The Zoom link will be circulated by email.

Topic: Life in the Cosmos

Biography: Manasvi Lingam completed his BS in engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay), and his PhD in Physics at the University of Texas at Austin. He subsequently pursued postdoctoral research in astronomy and physics at Princeton University, Harvard University, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Prof. Lingam is currently an Assistant Professor of Aerospace, Physics, and Space Sciences at the Florida Institute of Technology, and a Research Fellow at UT Austin.

His research interests include modeling of the habitability of planets and moons; high-energy processes in the Universe; and space exploration of the outer Solar System. Prof. Lingam has authored nearly 100 publications in international journals, as well as the comprehensive astrobiology textbook “Life in the Cosmos: From Biosignatures to Technosignatures” (with Prof. Avi Loeb) published by Harvard University Press. In 2022, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS) in the UK.

Abstract: With the rapidly expanding number of exoplanets, understanding the manifold factors that shape (exo)planetary habitability has become increasingly significant. Although habitability is regulated by many planetary parameters, there is growing evidence that the host star plays a major role in this context. I will outline the research undertaken with my collaborators in the following areas: (1) atmospheric escape mediated by stellar winds and space weather (flares and coronal mass ejections); (2) synthesis of building blocks of life by stellar energetic particles; and (3) potential characteristics of extraterrestrial photosynthesis. Along the way, I will sketch how some of our findings have already been confirmed by observations, and how others can be tested in the future.

CANCELLED Cape Cod National Seashore Dark Sky Festival 2023: September 15 – 16
Salt Pond Visitor Center, 50 Nauset Road, Eastham, MA

The National Park Service/Cape Cod National Seashore (NPS/CCNS) has again invited us to partner with them to produce this year’s “Dark Sky Festival 2023,” which will be held Friday/Saturday September 15-16. Talks will be given on astronomy topics geared towards the public on both days from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at their Salt Pond Visitor Center. Speakers will be from both CCAS and the NPS. On the 15^th (rain date September 16^th), a star party will be held from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM at the Marconi Beach parking lot, a very nice beachside, dark sky location. Please look at the formal NPS announcement on the Cape Cod National Seashore website, which is under www.nps.gov. Just browse for Cape Cod National Seashore, and make sure you’re on the nps.gov website, and not booking a hotel by mistake!

August 30, 2023 Update

CANCELLED Cape Cod National Seashore Dark Sky Festival 2023: September 15 – 16
Salt Pond Visitor Center, 50 Nauset Road, Eastham, MA
Additional Details to Follow

September Star Party Window: September 18 – 23 (NOTE REVISED DATES)

During the week of the Star Party Window, CCAS will choose one evening to hold a Star Party, weather permitting.  The specific date and time will be announced during the afternoon of that date via email to our mailing list and posted here on the Home Page and Calendar page of the web site.  Star Parties are held in the evening at the Werner Schmidt Observatory.

Jim Lynch, President CCAS

CCAS Typical Monthly Schedule (Please check website for changes, times and locations)

First of the month:  CCAS monthly newsletter sent via email and published on the website

First Thursday: Lecture

Third Thursday: CCAS Officers and Committees Meeting; CCAF Board Meeting

Week of the new moon: Star Party Window

Periodically CCAS also hosts workdays at the Werner Schmidt Observatory to maintain the Observatory or to assist members with telescope operation.  Details will be announced.

Observatory Address:

Werner Schmidt Observatory
210 Station Ave
Dennis-Yarmouth High School
South Yarmouth, MA 02664

Directions to Dennis Yarmouth HS and Werner Schmidt Observatory

For information on the location of our Dome behind Dennis-Yarmouth High School, click on the purple button “Old Website” and once there, click on “Meeting Location;” viewing the two maps that are there: external for the Dome, and internal to locate the high school library where meetings are held. NOTE: We are redoing the website, so that this information may become dated soon. We intend to move any currently useful information to our new website.

For meetings, drive in the south entrance road and go around behind the main building. Park in the lot about halfway down the building and go in the back door and turn down the hall to your left to find the library.

For Star Parties at the Dome, drive in the north entrance road all the way past the north side of the main high school building, through a gate, and on to park near our Dome.

H & K Directions

CCAS hosts a dinner gathering for the speaker (if available), members and friends on meeting nights (just before the meeting) at the South Yarmouth Hearth & Kettle restaurant at 5:45 pm. (The meetings begin at 7:30 at D-Y.) Please join the group to dine and talk about all things interesting, especially astronomy, before our meeting.

The H & K is at 1196 Rt 28, South Yarmouth, about a half mile west of the Station Avenue/Main Street intersection with Rt 28 (stop light). NOTE: Since Covid, we have a mix of fully remote and hybrid in-person + remote meetings. Check the newsletter and/or website to see what the format is each month! There are no dinners when the meeting is fully remote.