My thanks to all who were able to join us December 14th for our latest public observing night at Etelman Observatory. We have again set a new record with a crowd of over 140 people joining us to enjoy views of Jupiter, the Orion Nebula, and the Geminid meteor shower and to discuss the nature of dark matter, dark energy, and the structure of the Universe. Our sincere gratitude goes to Celtic Therapeutics for making events like this possible this year through their generous donation to the Observatory.
Moreover, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my best wishes to you all during this holiday season and to thank you all for joining us at the Observatory over the course of our first semester of public outreach activities. It is the interest and enthusiasm of community members like yourselves that has been and will continue to be the driving force behind
the Observatory. We are already planning our next public observing night (in January) and we have additional plans for education and outreach activities in the works, including a science academy and a summer camp at the Observatory.
I am also pleased to announce that we have been awarded a NASA grant that aligns the science goals of the Observatory with those of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. This 3-year grant will support upgrades to the Observatory and allow us to hire another full time astrophysicist who will help us to accelerate the pace of our scientific research activities and to further support our education and outreach plans.
It has been a very exciting year for the Etelman Observatory. From refurbishment and reconditioning last December, to hosting our first international workshop in April, to our public reopening in June, to our first semester of outreach activities, to the exciting news of our support by and affiliation with NASA, we have made extraordinary strides in just the
past 12 months and we are eager to build on these successes in the coming year.
Thank you all once again for your interest and your support, and I look forward to sharing future nights with you under our beautiful St. Thomas skies.
Happy holidays from all of us at the Etelman Observatory. Kindest regards,
David Morris, St. Thomas
Editor’s note: David Morris is an assistant professor of physics at the University of the Virgin Islands and the director of the Etelman Observatory. dmorris@uvi.edu.
