Welcome to the Home of the Werner Schmidt Observatory
News & Announcements
March CCAS Events (details below in the March 12 and February 29 entries and in the March 2024 FLL which has been posted to the Publications – Monthly Newsletter web page):
Lecture: March 7, 2024; 7:30 PM (Zoom only)
Speaker: Dr. Maria Kazachenko, University of Colorado at Boulder
Topic: Living in the golden age of solar physics
Star Party: March 12; 8 PM (7:30 PM for CCAS hosts.) Please check before you come to ensure that the sky is still clear. See details below.
March 12, 2024
There will be a Star Party tonight beginning at 8 PM at the Werner Schmidt Observatory located on the Dennis-Yarmouth High School campus. CCAS hosts please arrive at 7:30 PM. Also, because Cape weather is unpredictable, please check the sky before you come in case clouds have unexpectedly appeared.
February 29, 2024 (Abstract added March 4, 2024)
Lecture: March 7, 2024, 7:30 PM (Zoom only; the link will be circulated via email)
Speaker: Dr. Maria Kazachenko, University of Colorado at Boulder
Topic: Living in the golden age of solar physics
Abstract: Space weather is largely caused by the activity of our Sun. Invisible yet powerful magnetic fields, created within the Sun, determine when and where the next solar eruption will happen. Large solar storms can put our technological society at risk. In this talk, CU Boulder and National Solar Observatory professor, Maria Kazachenko will discuss how advances in solar telescopes allow scientists to understand the Sun in a lot more detail than ever before.
Star Party Window: There will be a Star Party Window from March 11 through 16, 2024, at the Werner Schmidt Observatory. During that Window, if the weather cooperates, we will have a Star Party. The date and time of the Star Party will be posted on this page by early afternoon of the day of the Star Party.
Jim Lynch, President CCAS
CCAS Typical Monthly Schedule (Please check website for changes, times and locations)
First of the month: CCAS monthly newsletter sent via email and published on the website
First Thursday: Lecture
Third Thursday: CCAS Officers and Committees Meeting; CCAF Board Meeting
Week of the new moon: Star Party Window
Periodically CCAS also hosts workdays at the Werner Schmidt Observatory to maintain the Observatory or to assist members with telescope operation. Details will be announced.
Observatory Address:
Werner Schmidt Observatory
210 Station Ave
Dennis-Yarmouth High School
South Yarmouth, MA 02664
Directions to Dennis Yarmouth HS and Werner Schmidt Observatory
For information on the location of our Dome behind Dennis-Yarmouth High School, click on the purple button “Old Website” and once there, click on “Meeting Location;” viewing the two maps that are there: external for the Dome, and internal to locate the high school library where meetings are held. NOTE: We are redoing the website, so that this information may become dated soon. We intend to move any currently useful information to our new website.
For meetings, drive in the south entrance road and go around behind the main building. Park in the lot about halfway down the building and go in the back door and turn down the hall to your left to find the library.
For Star Parties at the Dome, drive in the north entrance road all the way past the north side of the main high school building, through a gate, and on to park near our Dome.
H & K Directions
CCAS hosts a dinner gathering for the speaker (if available), members and friends on meeting nights (just before the meeting) at the South Yarmouth Hearth & Kettle restaurant at 5:45 pm. (The meetings begin at 7:30 at D-Y.) Please join the group to dine and talk about all things interesting, especially astronomy, before our meeting.
The H & K is at 1196 Rt 28, South Yarmouth, about a half mile west of the Station Avenue/Main Street intersection with Rt 28 (stop light). NOTE: Since Covid, we have a mix of fully remote and hybrid in-person + remote meetings. Check the newsletter and/or website to see what the format is each month! There are no dinners when the meeting is fully remote.