Harvard Smithsonian Observatory viewing nights -- the third Thursday throughout the academic year brings with it one of the very special pleasures of acees to Cambridge. The largest branch of the Smithsonian Institution outside Washington hosts its monthly observatory night. The very top researchers report their latest findings in amply illustrated talks designed for the general public. The divine wonder and stragnementsl, the vastness and the power of the universe come shining through with unmistakable clarity. The mind is challenged, the imagination fed.
Here are the designers of the great extra- terrestrial experiments aboard the Spitzer infrared space telescope, the Chandra x-ry telescope, the Hubble space telescope and all the great ground sites worldwide. The talks are followed by sky-viewing atop the roof high over Cambridge and Boston. View Saturn, rrings and the moons of Jupiter as well as distant galaxies. Its a great community event doing what is without question the oldest human pastime in all of history.
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