Making a beeline for that ‘wow’ moment

Extreme urban stargazing is a hit on New York’s High Line. By Jan WillemsThe bright lights of New York mean the Big Apple is not the ideal location for stargazing, but every Tuesday between April and October, amateur astronomers gather at Manhattan’s High Line to observe the stars, planets and moon through telescopes.Opened in 2009 and built on a section of the former elevated New York Central Railroad, the High Line is a park in the Chelsea area. Its organised summer activities range from dance parties to nature tours.Once dusk settles in, the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York (AAA) lets passers-by stargaze with its high-powered telescopes. Jason Kendall is an academic astronomer and is explaining the heavens to around 40 people present on this balmy evening. “Can you all see the tall, narrow building on the other side of the Hudson?” he asks. Put your fist out, as if you are placing in on top of the building. “Go two fists up and one to the right and you’ll find Venus.”The sun has only set around half an hour but already the planets and stars have begun to emerge in the sky above. It seems hard to believe that stargazing is possible in one of the most light-polluted places on Earth, where Times Square shines like a beacon and sky-scrapers remain illuminated throughout the night. Kendall produces a photo of Manhattan at night taken from the International Space Station. The island is a golden band of colour with barely any black spots.  “It’s for this reason that people are no longer able to see the Milky Way here,” he explains. AAA member Kendall teaches astronomy at New Jersey’s William Paterson University and is also part of the Explainer Programme at the American Museum of Natural History in the Earth and Space Division.Kendall’s passion is to teach others about astronomy and he believes “extreme urban stargazing” is an excellent way to achieve this. “Every religion and culture has its own history of the stars,” he says.  “If you separate people from the night sky, then you separate them from their spirituality.”As he stands in front of his telescope surrounded by a dozen eager stargazers, Kendall discusses what it means to see something as wonderful as another planet.  “Anyone who has seen Saturn with their own eyes — not in photos or on TV — will remember the moment for the rest of their lives. It’s a wow moment,” he says.  “All at once everything is put into proportion. You get a sense of your own place within the universe.” — DPA