The Becket Dark Sky Committee & Becket Athenaeum are sponsoring this stargazing party moderated by Destin Heilman, amateur astronomy and recent speaker at the Becket Arts Center and Becket Athenaeum. It will be held at Robert Alaire’s home at 74 Andrews Road in Becket.
Due to cloud cover conditions on Saturday, the stargazing party is rescheduled for Sunday November 5 at 6PM for a perfect clear sky.
Any event cancellation will be announced on Facebook.
If you have a telescope, please feel free to bring it!
Becket Dark Sky Committee
The drafting of a dark sky ordinance came about because a number of interested citizens in town found each other and worked to create it. Now that we have a draft, we are working on outreach and education, and on getting it to the newly reconstituted Becket Bylaw Review Committee, and ultimately to the Spring 2024 Town Meeting. We need more volunteers in this effort. We have a volunteer currently working on a webpage. Other things we need help with include:
graphic design of outreach materials
assistance in getting the word out — about events and the draft ordinance
assistance in organizing more events like this stargazing part
finding hosts and locations for more star parties
putting up fliers for events around town
hosting informational sessions/dark sky movies at your home, church, or community center
speaking up in support of the ordinance
scheduling and participating in meetings with town boards and commissions
If any of these things sound of interest or there are other ways you would like to be of help, please fill out this short form.
Destin Heilman is a resident of Southborough MA, and a part-time resident of Becket. By day, Dr. Heilman is a faculty member at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry where he teaches and conducts biochemistry research. He has extensive experience in project-based learning and has modernized the way in which chemistry and biochemistry are taught. He holds workshops at conferences and other colleges and universities in innovative design for science education. His disciplinary research focuses on the discovery and characterization of novel virus proteins that have toxicity specifically in cancer cells.
By night, Dr. Heilman turns his attention to the stars. As an amateur astronomer, he has hosted star parties for regional conservation groups and schools, including remote imaging sessions from his custom observatory that he built at his home. As an accomplished astrophotographer, he leverages his images to inspire others to look up, as well as to raise funds for organizations that preserve and cherish the night sky. He has given talks on the harmful affects of high energy blue light from LEDs, advised multiple towns on mitigating light pollution, and written bylaws that help towns to better manage light at night. He is currently working with a group in Becket to craft a bylaw that would protect its treasured dark skies.
Dr. Heilman received his Bachelors degree from Penn State University in Microbiology. He then earned a Doctoral degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School specializing in Molecular Medicine. In his time away from work, he also enjoys woodworking and clockmaking, mountain climbing, playing the piano, choral singing, and watching Sci-Fi with his wife and son.