[Atmob-discuss] Looking for help for "astronomy nights" in Arlington (MA)

[Jeffrey Alexander]

Hi all,

I hope that this is an appropriate request to be made to this list.   
Over the last few years I've organized a couple star party style  
events in my town (Arlington) at one of our parks.  Last summer, when  
I was getting permission from the Park & Rec commission to use the  
park after dark, one of the member suggested organizing a series of  
events over next summer.  These events are aimed at the general public  
of the town and have been particularly interesting to families with  
young children.  They've generally just been things like "Come see  
Mars" or "Watch the Perseids", and when appropriate I've brought my  
telescope and tried to ask around town to see if there are other  
people with telescopes that would like to join in.

That brings me to this list -- I'm hoping to find one or two people  
who live in Arlington that might be interested in helping me with  
something like this.  I don't consider myself to be an "amateur  
astronomer", but more of an astronomy enthusiast or hobbyist.  I have  
a few thoughts about scheduling an evening maybe once every 4-6 weeks  
with a particular target in mind each session.  I'm hoping to find a  
couple people that might be able to bring their telescopes and be  
willing to share their views with whoever shows up.  Obviously, being  
close to the city means we aren't trying for any particularly  
difficult targets... more likely planets (Saturn soon, hopefully  
Jupiter later), the Moon, and some easy Messier objects.  Of course,  
viewing suggestions are welcome too!  The first event would hopefully  
be in late April, viewing Saturn.

Thank you, and wishing you clear skies!

Jeff Alexander

p.s. my first thoughts on some targets:

April/May - Saturn
May/June - M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy) or Mizar
June/July - M13 (Hercules globular cluster)
July/August - Jupiter (too low in the sky)?  The Moon?
August/September M27 (Dumbbell nebula)