Galaxy quest

How is it changing?”Not just the moon but also the planets Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn can be seen with the naked eye from the city on a clear night. To study constellations, individual stars or special celestial events, urban astronomers in Manhattan venture to relatively darker areas, like the banks of the Hudson and East rivers.

Last February, some 500 people gathered at Carl Schurz Park, which overlooks the East River, to watch the lunar eclipse, according to Richard Rosenberg, president of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York (aaa.org). The group organizes stargazing sessions in parks and other public spaces across the city. Often families will just stumble upon a meeting and ask to take a look through one of the members’ telescopes. “We introduce a lot of kids to the sky,” Rosenberg says.