NJMC staffer Jim Wright wrote his latest column for The South Bergenite on the William D. McDowell Observatory at DeKorte Park, now hot off the presses. Here's the column:
Most visitors to the N.J. Meadowlands Commission’s DeKorte Park these days are here to go bird-watching, to enjoy the many walking trails, or just take in the park’s beautiful flowers and landscape on a crisp fall day.
What most of those visitors don’t realize is that on Monday and Wednesday nights, DeKorte offers a free attraction of an entirely different sort: the William D. McDowell Observatory’s research-grade telescope, capable of viewing objects millions of light years away.
The big draw at the observatory these days is the planet Jupiter, “It’s really putting on a nice show,” says Astronomer John Sloan, the observatory’s director. “And it’s going to get more and more spectacular as we progress into the fall and early winter, as the planet gets higher and higher in the night sky during our observing sessions.”
What’s more, the solar system’s biggest planet has a different look this fall.
Full story follows.
