Lewiston Auburn Senior College

IN PERSON AT AUBURN-LEWISTON AIRPORT

You’ve heard the expression, “Keep looking up!” Well, in this class we take it literally! Equipped only with your eyes and a sense of curiosity, there are dozens of beautiful and interesting natural sights that can be found just by looking at the sky. In this course, we’ll survey a large sample of these sights and learn how to identify and name them, and facts about how they form.

The Course is divided into three weekly, two-hour classes. We’ll start with "Cloud Watching," in which we’ll examine the huge variety of shapes, sizes, and forms that clouds can have, learn a basic identification system, and a few basic (and surprising!) principles behind their formation. Next, we’ll explore "Atmospheric Optics." The play of light on water drops, dust or ice crystals in the atmosphere produces a host of visual spectacles - rainbows, halos, glories, coronas and many more. Some can be seen almost every day or so, some are very rare. Find out where to see them and how they are formed. Last, "The Night Sky" introduces you to a small selection of the best and brightest astronomical sights you can enjoy using only your naked eyes: the Moon, Meteors, The Bright Planets, and Stars and Constellations. These objects can be seen even in suburbs with moderate light pollution. No telescope or other optical aid needed!

The goal of this course is to generate inspiration, awareness, and insight about the many natural phenomena that can be discovered and enjoyed, simply by keeping an eye on the sky throughout the course of a year.  

Alan is a nature and science enthusiast who's been fascinated by sights in the sky his whole life. He's a Maine Master Naturalist (Class of 2013, hosted by Bates College in Lewiston), a certified National Weather Service SKYWARN Storm Spotter, and an official CoCoRaHS Observer. He's a lifelong Mainer and lives in Lisbon with his wife, Linda .