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PEACE

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • January 2, 2025

As Walt Whitman once wrote, “Peace is always beautiful.” 


Peace can mean many different things. I have used this Whitman quote above  before – my Father loved Whitman. And when I quote Whitman, it makes me feel like my Father is here. Maria and her father, William, were close. In fact, even with a large family of twelve people, the Mitchells were all close. My family is close as well, though we have our moments as most, if not all, families do.


As we bring to a close another difficult year in which the world and its people continue to struggle, take a moment to be thankful and to find and give peace. May you always find peace in yourself and peace with others. May our world become more peaceful and may we all learn that this small space we inhabit is shared and meant for everyone. In the echoes of one of my favorite Maria Mitchell quotes, your small step, your small gesture to another or towards helping something happen, can make a difference – more than you think.


I’ll end with another quote – and a poem I have used the last few years – that is fitting and that also reminds me of another Whitman poem.


JNLF


In Memoriam, [Ring out, wild bells]

Alfred, Lord Tennyson - 1809-1892



Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
   The flying cloud, the frosty light:
   The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
   Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
   The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
   For those that here we see no more;
   Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
   And ancient forms of party strife;
   Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
   The faithless coldness of the times;
   Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
   The civic slander and the spite;
   Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
   Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
   Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
   The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
   Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.


Recent Posts

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • February 10, 2025
Feb. 15, 1853. I think Dr. Hall (in his “Life of Mary Ware”) does wrong when he attempts to encourage the use of the needle. It seems to me that the needle is the chain of woman, and has fettered her more than the laws of the country. Once emancipate her from the “stitch, stitch, stitch,” the industry of which would be commendable if it served any purpose except the gratification of her vanity, and she would have time for studies which would engross as the needle never can. I would as soon put a girl alone into a closet to meditate as give her only the society of the needle. The art of sewing, so far as men learn it, is well enough; that is, to enable a person to take the stitches, and, if necessary, to make her own garments in a strong manner; but the dressmaker should no more be a universal character than the carpenter. I believe MM’s words are self-explanatory, no commentary needed on my part. JNLF

Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association and Nantucket Lights Releases Report on the Nantucket Sky Quality Monitoring Project

February 7, 2025
NANTUCKET, MA—– The Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) and Nantucket Lights are pleased to release the Nantucket Sky Quality Monitoring Project (SQM) report by Dark Sky Consulting , LLC. The joint program, launched in 2022, involves collecting night-sky brightness data from around Nantucket Island from citizen-scientists using handheld Unihedron Sky Quality Meters (SQMs) as measurement devices to study light pollution. Observations were made from June 2022 to November 2024 at eight sites (Nantucket Town; Madaket Beach; Nantucket Elementary School; Nantucket Memorial Airport; Altar Rock; 'Sconset; Wauwinet; and Surfside Beach), a ninth site (Cisco Beach) was added in August 2024, for which only three months of data are available. These efforts establish a baseline for assessing the effectiveness of actions to mitigate light pollution going forward. The distributions separate into two broad populations (high development: Nantucket Town; Nantucket Elementary School; and Nantucket Airport) and low/no development: (Madaket; Sconset; Wauwinet’; Surfside Beach; Cisco Beach; and Altar Rock). The darkest readings among the latter tend to occur in spring and summer. For high-development sites, the width of the distribution increases distinctly in summer and its mean shifts toward brighter values. We interpret this as due to an increased population on the island during the summer season. The group follows the data collection procedure recommended by DarkSky International. Readings are taken under conditions intended to minimize interference from environmental influences. For example, reading does not commence until the end of astronomical twilight, which occurs about 90 minutes after sunset. Observers are encouraged to report only data taken under conditions of clear skies, which is sometimes not possible due to the vagaries of Nantucket weather. Additionally, they avoid obtaining data when the Moon is above the horizon to limit the contaminating effect of its light. Readings are taken after the conclusion of astronomical twilight during the week between the last-quarter and new Moon phases. Analysis of the night-sky brightness measurements since 2022 show that the data are broadly valid and reproducible, and that outlier values can largely be explained by the influence of environmental conditions. Distributions of measurements across various cuts (location, year) are normal as expected for random sampling of the assumed underlying “populations” of night-sky brightness values. And there is not a great deal of night-sky brightness variation from one year to the next, either on a per-site basis or island-wide. From this, we can broadly conclude that light emissions on Nantucket have, in recent years, increased only at a very slow rate. The Nantucket Dark Sky Monitoring Project continues to be monitored, and data is being collected and analyzed. You can find more detailed information on the Nantucket Island Night Sky Quality Report here: Nantucket-Report-FINAL-250123.pdf Nantucket-Annex-FINAL-250123.pdf The Maria Mitchell Association was founded in 1902 to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. After she discovered a comet in 1847, Mitchell’s international fame led to many achievements and awards, including an appointment as the first female professor of astronomy at Vassar College. Maria Mitchell believed in “learning by doing” and today that philosophy is reflected in the MMA’s mission statement, programs, research projects, and other activities. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages ###

Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory Conservation Update: February 2025

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • February 3, 2025
We are still quietly working away. Now that the paint and plaster repairs are done, the woodwork and shelving has been conserved, and the floor has been redone in the Astronomical Study, we have turned to the concrete floors. These are being worked on by Evita Caune of Riptide Finishes – she had done Hinchman House’s cellar floor and those in the Research Center. The Observatory cellar floor is coming along and she is also working on the Pillar Room – so named because tit houses the pillar that supports the telescope in the Dome Room. If there was an original finish on any of the three concrete floors – the Pillar Room, the Dome Room, the cellar under the Astronomical Study – it is gone. They applied many layers of paint that eroded and chipped with time. I do now know why the Pillar Room had a red floor at one point (took me long enough) – probably to match the red tile they put on the original wood floor in the Astronomical Study. Evita is giving us a nice clean coating in the Pillar Room and the cellar and we may have a bit more fun with the floor in the Dome Room – all of this is reversible which comes from a conservation perspective. All the interior conservation work was funded by the Community Preservation Act – as was the exterior conservation. One note – the Astronomical Study’s original floor was a total loss as far as finish is concerned. I may have noted this before. It was truly sad. The original wood floor was covered in multiple layers – tarpaper glued to the wood. Then a layer of red tile (tested and was safe), then another layer of tarpaper and glues. Then foam padding and a 1980s blue wall-to-wall carpet – they liked that carpet so much it used to be in the Astronomer’s Cottage too! We thought the tar paper beneath the tiles would be easily removed from the wood. It was not. It had basically melted and seeped into the floor so we have to lightly sand the floor and then refinish it. That was quite sad – but at least we have the original wood floor intact. JNLF
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