The Astronomy Club was started by Tom Szymkiewicz '99 in September of this year. He, along with Nick Abbondante '00, the secretary, run the club; incidentally, both are physics majors. The group meets primarily on weekends to observe constellations. These get-togethers take place in Rutland State Park, about a half hour drive from WPI. In addition to constellations, the group also observes nebulae, clusters, the moon, and the Andromeda Galaxy. Some things of particular interest that they have or will observe are Saturn and its rings, the lunar eclipse, and the Hale-Bopp Comet, which is coming around Earth.
Presently, the Astronomy club depends on group members for equipment since it has not received the funding its needs yet. Their equipment includes a 4.5 inch reflector telescope and an 8.5 inch Criterion Schmidt-Cassegrain. However, they are presently in the process of acquiring funds from SGA. With these funds, they are hoping to buy additional telescopes, mounts, cameras (for astrophotography), and binoculars. Furthermore, the club plans to use these funds for tentative trips to the Framingham Observatory, the planetarium at the Boston Museum of Science, and the MIT Haystack Observatory.
The Astronomy Club has grown substantially since its inception. Starting out with approximately 18 members, they've added another 40 within the last two months. Apparently, they got a large response from students expressing an interest in their club in response to an e-mail. They require a simple $5 fee to help pay for expenses and the club is open to anyone with an interest or curiosity in astronomy and observation of the sky. No experience is necessary and most members are novices anyway. Anyone interested in joining should contact them at was@wpi.edu. Their homepage can be accessed at http://www.wpi.edu/~was.