Jamaican Astronomy Outreach

Julia and I spent a week recuperating on the southwest coast of Jamaica last week, at one of our favorite spots on the globe, the lovely little farming and fishing village of Treasure Beach.

Treasure Beach has always been a great place to stargaze, but since the astronomy bug bit me, I do my best to carry some sort of viewing apparatus with me wherever we go, even if it's only a small pair of binoculars. Working with neighborhood kids, friends, a teenage nephew, young cousins, and The Chicago Astronomer crew has also shown me that the never ceasing wonders of astronomy are frequently much more fun when shared with others than when being the stereotypical solitary astrocrab.

I grabbed a cheap $60 Celestron 70mm travel scope, my copy of Terence Dickinson's "Nightwatch," a few spare eye pieces and off we went! Needless to say, the skies down there defy explanation, especially when we're so used to Chicago's five visible stars.

The highlight of the astronomy week came last Thursday when some students from Sandy Bank Elementary and their principal came to Jake's for an hour or fun and learning about the sky. We took a few pictures and I wrote up the experience on the Chicago Astronomer boards. Go check it out.