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WELCOME TO THE ASTRONOMY INSTITUTE OF MAINE! (Updated January 11)
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Our mission is to provide programs, facilities, and resources to schools, teachers and the public, to promote astronomy as a stimulating educational and cultural activity for people of all ages.
Maine retains some of the last naturally dark skies on the East Coast. Maine's star-filled nights offer a universe of inspiration.
The Island Astronomy Institute is now the Astronomy Institute of Maine
In Decemer of 2011 the Island Astronomy Institute of Bernard, located on the quietside of Mount Desert Island, moved to its new home atop Eagle Hill in downeast Steuben, Maine. To reflect its expanded misssion and new home at the Eagle Hill Foundation, the Institute's name was changed to the Astronomy Institute of Maine.
2nd annual Maine Starlight Festival—September 7th-September 16th, 2012 The Astronomy Institute of Maine is pleased to announce the dates for the 2012 Maine Starlight Festival. The 2nd annual festival will feature lectures, movies, solar viewings, star parties, and artistic works capturing the inspiration of Maine’s night skies.
Minds on Education: Hands on Science Natural curiosity and pristine nights turn people of all ages into space explorers. The Institute is currently focused on three outreach programs:
The annual Maine Starlight Festival is dedicated to preserving the nighttime environment as a valuable natural and educational resource, through grass-roots scientific management. Light pollution fills the sky close to the ground with glowing domes that hide distant starlight. As light pollution grows, the reach of human vision shrinks—a view of nearly 6,000 stars, stretching millions of light years into the past, dwindles to a mere handful. Science, poetry, art, and music are some of the ways we've learned to express the wonder of a star-filled sky.
The spectacle of a pristine sky is now reserved for the last undeveloped corners of our country. We work within communities to help them make informed results based decisions about the future of their night sky.
Our current efforts are focused on the state-of-the-art Nightscape Survey capabilities that we aquired with the technical assistance of the National Park Service through a 5 year collaborative effort that concluded in 2011. The measurement effort was initiated in 2007, and in 2008 we completed the first community inventory to take advantage of the NPS technology for the Acadia All American Road and concluded with the acquisition of AIM's independently owned and operated system in 2011. Our next steps include research into the field of light pollution science, geospatial mapping, and improvements in our presentation of spatially demanding information.
We collaborate with organizations that value astronomy's cultural contribution to the innovation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
The Astronomy Institute of Maine is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. registered with the State of Maine. All contributions are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by law. You may download our IRS Form 990-EZ here.
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Educating Maine's Starlit Communities Since 2004 | ||
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© Astronomy Institute of Maine All Rights Reserved | ||
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