Maria Mitchell Association Logo

NASA Week Presented by the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association

Kelly Bernatzky • October 28, 2021

The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) has joined almost 500 sites across the country to celebrate the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), NASA’s next great space observatory. To celebrate this scientific achievement, the MMA is hosting a NASA Week from November 1-6 and offering a range of public programs including free science kits, events with the Nantucket Boys & Girls Club, a pop-up Science Speaker Series lecture, and Open Nights at Loines Observatory.

 

“We are thrilled that the Maria Mitchell Association is an official host site for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launch community events,” said Dr. Regina Jorgenson, Director of Astronomy at the MMA. “We have partnered with the Nantucket Boys & Girls Club to help our community celebrate this amazing feat of science and engineering, and we are very excited to host a JWST expert to speak during our pop-up science speaker lecture.”

 

JWST is the largest and most complex space telescope ever built – the premier observatory of the next decade. This international mission, led by NASA in partnership with the European and Canadian space agencies, will launch in December 2021.

 

The observatory will provide a new view of the cosmos and push the field of astronomy into a new era. The telescope will observe the universe in the infrared, peering inside dust clouds to study light from distant parts of the universe for the very first time – the first galaxies that formed about 13.5 billion years ago – and give us insight into how our universe formed. It will also explore distant worlds in other solar systems, as well as objects in our own solar system. The JWST will extend the scientific discoveries of other NASA missions like the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Please read below for the MMA’s full schedule of NASA Week events.

 

Nantucket Boys & Girls Club Collaboration:

 

On Tuesday, November 2, the MMA is hosting a special event from 1pm-2pm at the Nantucket Boys & Girls Club (NBGC). This program is open to all members of the NGBC and will be led by the MMA Education Coordinator, Camden Palm, and Astronomy Research Fellow, Celia Mulcahey. Participants will learn about the importance of this great space observatory and receive free science kits provided with support from ReMain Nantucket. November 2 is Election Day and there is no school for Nantucket Public Schools on this day.

 

On Thursday, November 4, the MMA is offering a FREE Open Night at Loines Observatory as part of Tween Night at The Club. The program is open to ten participants and sign-up is available through the NGBC.

 

Science Speaker Series Lecture:

 

The MMA is providing a pop-up Science Speaker Series Lecture with Dr. Stephanie LaMassa of the Space Telescope Science Institute on Wednesday, November 3, from 7pm-8pm. Her talk, “Unveiling the Mysteries of the Universe with James Webb Space Telescope” will be FREE for all participants and held via Zoom.

 

When the JWST launches later this year, it will provide an unprecedented view of the cosmos and our place in it. This talk will highlight how observing infrared light will reveal the hidden Universe to us, the challenges in designing and deploying the most complex observatory yet built, and some of the science highlights we expect to learn from the JWST within just its first year of operations.

 

Dr. Stephanie LaMassa is a scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) working on the JWST mission. Dr. LaMassa received her bachelor’s degree in Astronomy and Physics from Boston University. She then worked for several years as a mission planner for the Chandra X-ray Observatory at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics before starting graduate school at The Johns Hopkins University. After receiving her PhD from JHU, she held a postdoctoral research position at Yale University, followed by a fellowship position at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Dr. LaMassa joined STScI in 2017 and currently serves as the manager of the JWST NIRISS instrument branch.

 

Dr. LaMassa studies the growth and evolution of accreting supermassive black hole holes (i.e., active galactic nuclei) and the interplay between black hole fueling and star formation from a multi-wavelength perspective. Dr. LaMassa is also interested in understanding how highly variable active galactic nuclei provide insight into the feeding habits of black holes and their lifetimes.

 

To register for this lecture, please use the link below:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GDrUkdtxT2O5-utDlWqVxg

 

Open Nights:

               

The MMA is hosting two Open Night programs on Thursday, November 4  and Friday, November 5  from 7pm-8:30pm. Visitors to Open Nights will join the MMA’s professional astronomers for an impressive tour of Nantucket’s night sky. The MMA staff will lead constellation tours and guide visitors through different viewing stations outside the observatory domes.

 

Programs take place at 59 Milk Street Extension and are weather permitting. No reservations are required; tickets will be available at the door. Open Nights are $10 for Non-Members and FREE for Members. On Thursday, November 4, this program will be free to all participating members of the Nantucket Boys & Girls Club’s Tween Night with pre-registration (see above). For updates on weather cancellations, please call (774) 325-1081or visit www.mariamitchell.org/open-nights.

 

Everyday Science Kits:

 

On Saturday, November 6, the MMA is handing out NASA Everyday Science Kits during Open Hours at the Natural Science Museum from 10am-1pm. These kits are offered for FREE to all, thanks to the generosity of ReMain Nantucket. The NASA kit explores the life cycle of a star with a bracelet making activity.

 

To learn more about the Webb telescope, visit webb.nasa.gov. For information about other Webb community event locations, visit webb.nasa.gov/content/features/celebrateWebb.html.

 

The Maria Mitchell Association is a private non-profit organization. Founded in 1902, the MMA works to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. 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.

For Immediate Release

October 28, 2021

Contact: Kelly Bernatzky, Development Associate

kbernatzky@mariamitchell.org

Recent Posts

Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Welcomes Pam Murphy and Kim Schulam of Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket as Featured Guests for the February Science Speaker Series

February 18, 2025
NANTUCKET, MA—The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) announces that it will host Pam Murphy and Kim Shulam of the Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket (MMAN), as featured presenters for its February Science Speaker Series. Their presentation will take place on Wednesday, February 26 at 7pm via Zoom. This event is free to all. Join Pam Murphy, the MMAN Executive Director, and Kim Schulam, the MMAN Vice President and Stranding Coordinator, in a discussion on the importance of seals and other marine mammals in maintaining a healthy marine ecosystem, and how we can all help keep these populations safe. The mission of the Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket is to monitor, rescue, and protect marine mammals on Nantucket, advocate for their well-being, and educate the public. MMAN belongs to the Greater Atlantic Marine Mammal Stranding Network, and is among thirteen organizations dedicated to protecting, rescuing, and advocating marine mammals along the Atlantic coast from Virginia to Maine. You can learn more about the animals they rescue, their partner teams, useful tips, and statistical maps here: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/5d29b842996d44eea0c4517f71ecca4d Pam Murphy has been involved in animal rescue for many years, from creating a Be Kind to Animals Club at the age of seven, to being one of the founders of Nantucket Island Safe Harbor for Animals (NiSHA) in 2011; serving eight years as board president. Her extensive board experience with TWN, NiSHA, and NAC put her in a solid position to manage MMAN’s board and see it develop into a stronger organization, capable of attracting the donor support the mission deserves. A lifelong vegetarian, Pam has never been able to stand idly by when an animal is suffering. To be allowed to approach injured and entangled marine mammals legally and help was what drew her to MMAN. She became Level A trained, learning to restrain and disentangle seals and went on to attend a Cetacean Stranding Workshop with IFAW. “I have learned a great deal about marine mammals and how to help through the vast knowledge of my teammates.” Kim Schulam began visiting Nantucket in 2013 and fell in love with the remote, natural qualities of the island. A Biological Sciences major in college, she initially considered the fields of Marine Biology or Veterinary Medicine but ultimately pursued a career as a Physician’s Assistant. Now retired from medicine, she met former Stranding Coordinator Scott Leonard and learned of MMAN. She immediately joined the team and became Level A trained. She regularly attends IFAW’s Marine Mammal Mass Stranding training, and is 24-Hour HAZWOPER certified for oil spill wildlife rescue. Now a full-time resident of Nantucket, she serves as the team’s Stranding Coordinator and Board Vice President. She coordinated MMAN’s first team-conducted large whale necropsy last year and works closely with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to maintain the team’s Stranding Agreement as Nantucket's sole agency legally permitted to handle marine mammals. She feels strongly that humans have an obligation to marine life to help them survive given all we have done to injure them and destroy their environment. Pre-registration is required to attend Zoom. To register for Zoom, use the registration link below: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7UnSEop1RKyxgl0LBio2Kw#/registration This series is generously sponsored by our lead sponsor, Bank of America.  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 ###

Good Neighbors

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • February 18, 2025
Good neighbors seem hard to come by these days. And, by these days, I mean the last thirty or more years. There are still good neighbors out there but many neighborhoods are not what they once were. People tend to be more insular, inside more often on devices, not outside tending to their yards or just sitting on the front porch. Children do not run rampant over yards and fences, multiple ages playing outside until the last gasp of daylight. Grown-ups are not inviting one another over for dinner or giving each other a hand as they once did. In elementary school, my best friend’s family moved in across the street (how lucky was I?!). Our bedrooms were directly opposite one another and we developed a flashlight signal to share from our windows. After Hurricane Gloria, without power for days, our two families gathered to clean out the refrigerators and freezers before things spoiled. Our father’s grilled it all on charcoal grills so we could have a hot feast – and save the food. Does that happen anymore? We are all more focused on ourselves than one another. The MMA recently lost a good neighbor. Nancy lived on Vestal Street for twenty-five or more years with her husband in a house that was once occupied by another good neighbor. I think a little osmosis might have been at work but also, simply, Nancy was a good neighbor. I would liken her to the “Mayor of Vestal Street.” She looked out for people, paid attention, invited her neighbors for dinner, and helped them out. She certainly helped the MMA out. She offered to garden – and re-did our Astronomer’s Cottage garden and side yard. She painted window boxes. She donated an old door she had so we could replace a rotting door we had. She donated a refrigerator – still humming along nicely in one of our dorms. She welcomed a Mitchell House intern into her home to look at the grain painting in her home from the nineteenth century as the intern worked to study the grain painting in the Mitchell House’s 1825 Kitchen. She attended our events. She was a member. She helped out in other areas of the MMA with advice and support. She swept at least weekly – if not more – the stones from our driveway that constantly tumbled into the street. She gave us plants, kept her eye on things, and looked out for our staff and interns, too. She even gave me a few dresses she could not wear and a baby gift when we brought our son home. She was a mensch. Finding out about her death knocked me down. I keep expecting her to be outside sweeping or walking her beloved dog or putting a new flower arrangement in her front window. She loved her historic home and she and her husband worked very hard to preserve it and also restore details that were lost over the last 100 or more years. She was an incredibly talented and smart person and had a whole other life in Boston where she worked for many years in human resources. I could not think of a better person to have such an occupation. She always had a smile on her face and was ready with support. Good neighbors are hard to come by. I hope that Nancy and her memory inspire a few more people to be good neighbors in this world. The step, however small, which is in advance of the world, shows the greatness of the person, whether that step be taken with brain, with heart, or with hands. – Maria Mitchell JNLF

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
Show More
Share by: