The Magic of the Night and How We Can Save It with James Lowenthal

Do you love seeing the Milky Way from Nantucket?  Do you enjoy Nantucket's beautiful gardens by day?  The naturally dark night is one of Nature's greatest gifts.  Humans and all other life on Earth evolved to depend on bright days and dark nights, and for thousands of generations, humans have turned to the night sky for inspiration, connection to our ancestors and culture, religion, science, and awe.  Pollinators, migrating birds, marine life and agricultural crops all need natural darkness at night to thrive.  Join Smith College Professor of Astronomy James Lowenthal on an illustrated tour of the magic of the night and learn how, together, we can bring that night magic back to Nantucket and safeguard it for future generations by taming the growing threat of light pollution -- a global problem with a local solution.

 

James Lowenthal is the Mary Elizabeth Moses Professor of Astronomy at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, USA. He received his BS in Physics and Astronomy from Yale and his PhD in Astronomy from the University of Arizona.  He studies the formation and evolution of galaxies, especially actively star-forming galaxies. He leads the local advocacy group Northampton City Lights and the Massachusetts chapter of DarkSky International; chairs the Light Pollution Sub-Committee of the American Astronomical Society Committee for the Protection of Astronomy and the Space Environment; and is President of the International Astronomical Union's Commission on Site Protection (i.e., light pollution).  Of all of those, the local case -- the small town of Northampton, MA -- is arguably the most challenging!  He spends as much time outdoors as he can.

The Magic of the Night and How We Can...

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Date and Time

Wednesday Aug 20, 2025
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM EDT

Location

33 Washington Street and Via Zoom

Website

https://www.mariamitchell.org/calendar

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