AstroAssembly 2021Saturday, October 2nd

Seagrave Memorial Observatory 47 Peeptoad Road, North Scituate, Rhode Island

& Streaming via Zoom

AstroAssembly returns to Seagrave Memorial Observatory in 2021 with an in-person event dedicated to the memories of Ed Turco, Tina

Huestis, and other members of the Skyscrapers family who have recently passed.

AstroAssembly is the annual convention and fundraising event for Skyscrapers, Inc., owners

and operators of Seagrave Memorial Observatory, located in North Scituate, Rhode Island. This 69-

year tradition brings together amateur astronomers from all over the New England area. 

Masks will be required for indoor activities at Seagrave Memorial Observatory

A Note of Thanks

This year’s event, like many in the past, has been a true team effort. Without many hands doing what they do best, AstroAssembly would not be possible.

A sincere thank you to all members, friends, speakers and donors who have helped to make this year’s AstroAssembly a success.

Welcome to AstroAssembly 2021

Hello Everyone. Welcome to AstroAssembly 2021! While this event has been modified this year, we are happy to open our buildings and grounds once more to all of our in person and remote attendees.

Sadly, this is also a bittersweet time, as we remem-ber Ed Turco and Tina Huestis who passed away this year. Tina was helping at the registration table for the last 36 years. Ed attended every AstroAssembly since he joined as a teenager. It would have been his 60th time this year.

Join us as we dedicate the Skyscraper Memorial Garden in memory of all our members who have left planet Earth and who are now with the Stars.

Steve SiokPresident, Skyscrapers, Inc.

DedicationTina Pala Huestis 1959-2021

With great sadness we remember our friend and colleague, Tina Huestis. Tina was a woman of many talents and interests and a valuable asset wherever she was involved. Competent, well-spoken and well-read, she was always willing to share her talents and time to make things work. She was a positive person, whose smile would light up the room. Tina suffered a variety of setbacks in her health in recent years, but always fought to return to her life with the love of her life, Dave. Her absence is keenly felt by all of us at Skyscrapers.

“Tina received a BA in anthropology from Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire and worked at the Charles Hayden Planetarium, Boston, in the 1980s as the planetarium’s registrar. She coordinated admissions for the annual Lowell Astronomy Lectures, and student enrollment for various astronomy courses. She met her husband Dave Huestis, who was one of the course instructors, while working at the Charles Hayden Planetarium.

Tina presented some live shows under the dome, and contributed to the plan-etarium’s marketing efforts. She implemented radio promotions for planetarium shows, wrote articles for the Museum of Science membership’s newsletter (i.e, article, “Seen Any Good Eclipses Lately?”)  and was a writer/editor for the popular planetarium show “Death Stars and Dinosaurs.”

Along with husband and fellow sky watcher Dave Huestis, Tina became an avid birdwatcher. The couple participated as members of Skyscrapers, Inc. Tina and Dave Huestis were married for almost 36 years, and they traveled extensively in support of bird watching and observational astronomy.”

(Includes excerpts from Joyce JT Town’s remembrance that appeared in The Skyscraper, August 2021)

Carl Sagan has said “We are made of star stuff.”

Let us fondly remember Tina and Ed

as they take up residence in another part

of the starry Universe.

Edward Franklin Turco 1945-2021We also mourn the loss of one of our longest living members of Skyscrapers, Ed

Turco. He joined the society in 1961 when he was sixteen years old. Ed was a very active member and contributor to Skyscrapers through the years. Ed gave many talks for the organization, wrote many articles for the Society’s and other publications, and shared his knowledge of telescope making in both informal and formal workshops for many people over the years. He was interested in all aspects of astronomy, but was most passionate about the art of making fine telescopes.

He graduated from Brown University with a BA in Anthropology in 1967, and an MA in English in 1971, and also pursued course work in mathematics. He worked at Brown University, the United States Postal Service, where he was promoted to the engineering technical unit, working with software applications, and as an adjunct professor in English at the Community College of Rhode Island.

Truly a Renaissance man, Ed lived a full and rich life. A meticulous craftsman and a scholar, Ed read widely and was fascinated by the world of numbers and scientific ob-servation. Astronomy was his lifelong hobby. He was particularly intrigued by eclipses, where he traveled to numerous ones. His interest with telescopes began when at thirteen he received a telescope as a gift, and became so fascinated that he wanted another. His father said he could only have a second if he made it himself, and so he did, and continued making ever more precise and aesthetically beautiful ones from his early teens onward.

Ed never missed an AstroAssembly, and 2021 would have been his 60th. Ed and his wife Denise were happily married for over 40 years.(Includes excerpts from: “Memorial Minute for Edward Franklin Turco” , Providence Friends

Meeting June, 2021)

Avi Loeb Harvard-Smithsonian Center for AstrophysicsExtraterrestrial Life: Are We the Sharpest Cookies in the Jar?

The search for extraterrestrial life is one of the most exciting frontiers in Astronomy. First tentative clues were identified close to Earth in the form of the weird interstellar object `Oumuamua. Our civilization will mature once we find out who resides on our cosmic street by searching with our best telescopes for unusual electromagnetic flashes, industrial pollution of plan-etary atmospheres, artificial light or heat, artificial space debris or something completely unexpected. We might be a form of life as primitive and common in the cosmos as ants are in a kitchen. If so, we can learn a lot from others out there through the new frontier of “space archaeology.”

Dinner BreakDine on your own at a local restaurant.

Rick Lynch Skyscrapers, Inc.A Recent Visit to Warner and Swasey Observatory

Worcester Warner and Ambrose Swasey founded one of the most suc-cessful telescope companies of the 20th century. Founded in Cleveland, OH, they created the mountings and instrumentation for such great observato-ries as Yerkes, Lick, and the U.S. Naval Observatory. Both men were also avid amateur astronomers and built impressive personal observatories. Warner and Swasey founded an impressive research observatory in what is today East Cleveland. The facility was built for Case Western University and was a center of research until the mid-1950s when its telescopes had to be moved to other location because of light pollution. The observatory continued on for several more years as a facility catering to public observation until the early 1970s when the beautiful and historic observatory was abandoned and fell into disrepair. The presentation will tell the story of the company, the observatory, and the demise of a once great observatory.

Observing at Seagrave Memorial ObservatoryWeather permitting

3:45pm

5:30pm

7:00pm

8:00pm

Some Local Restaurants (Please Google to get exact locations)

Chelo’s at Apple Valley Mall on Rt 44Giuseppe’s Pizzeria & Bistro Rt. 116 N of Seagrave

Panera Bread on Rt 44Papa Gino’s at Apple Valley Mall

Program ScheduleDedication of the Skyscraper Memorial Garden

Boxed Deli LunchPre-order and payment with registration required.

Rick Lynch Skyscrapers, Inc.

Remembering the Life of Leslie Peltier

In 1990, Skyscrapers member Rick Lynch visited the home of Leslie Peltier, ten years after his passing. He was fortunate to have a wonderful relationship with his wife Dottie, and made several visits to the “Place on Jennings Creek.” The observatory was still standing, but in great disrepair as was the Merry-Go-Round Observatory. Rick, with some local amateur astronomers, received permission to remove and restore the Merry-Go-Round observatory. Rick also was also given access to all of Leslie’s notes, papers, natural history collections, and much of his astronomical items. The presentation will follow Leslie’s life as presented in Starlight Nights and The Place on Jennings Creek.  A look back on a simpler time in astronomy!

James Head Brown UniversityIncreasing Science Capabilities in the Apollo Lunar Exploration Program: Perspectives for Artemis

The Apollo Lunar Exploration Program accomplished six successful lunar landings.  Each succeeding Apollo mission was characterized by increasing exploration capabilities (landing accuracy, stay time, EVAs, mobility, ex-periments, tools, etc.). We present a brief review of the landing sites, surface operations, and science return of each succeeding Apollo mission and show how science and engineering synergism resulted in a rapid transition from achieving a national goal (Apollo 11) to sophisticated scientific expeditions targeted to areas critical to understanding the origin and evolution of the Moon. We suggest some potential insights that might be useful for Artemis Program planning. 

Door Prizes Awarded

10:45am

11:30am

12:30pm

2:00pm

3:30pm

Astrophotography entries & voting: theSkyscrapers.org/astrophoto2021