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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

The City of Evanston hosts the Chicago Astronomer

Friday 01 September 2023

Several months ago, Evanston inquired if the Chicago Astronomer would like to organize a urban astronomy session at their Lighthouse beach area. Always eager for new venues to deliver the cosmos, we planned this session for a Friday evening. It was to be a "Register Only" event and gauge the interest.

The opportunity to share the skies with us garnered phone calls at the Evanston Park District all day...inquiring about our appearance. An unexpected delight.

Arriving, we scouted viable observation sites, but I selected the lakefront/beach site, providing a clear horizon for the upcoming Moonrise...always a treat.

We set-up our scopes on a narrow pathway, for wheelchairs and it worked fine as a stable platform for our telescopes. Our Chicago Astronomer crew had three telescopes at the ready as sunset twilight brought a large crowd of eager sky lovers of all ages. I had great conversations with many, bringing their curiosity and desire to peek thru our scopes. Starting at 7:30 pm, we attend to our beach guests till about 10:00 pm. The area provided a decent darker sky environment, even with the surrounding glare, displaying constellations and targets for us to instruct.


It was a very successful Chicago Astronomer event, (aren't they all?) and Evanston would like to plan a series of Chicago Astronomer events next year. We do have a Fall session at the Lighthouse Beach area...more details on that when the date approaches.




Shout out to Chicago Astronomers: Tom, Brian, Logan, Maria and our Evanston host Ethan.

Astro Joe