FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
 

• Why are you called the Island Astronomy Institute?
   
• Why did you leave that wonderful shop in Bernard?
   
• Can I visit Meadow View Observatory?
   
• Can Peter Homer Come talk to my class, group, organization?

Why are you called the Island Astronomy Institute?

Answer #1—Astronomy for a place

Like many businesses operating on Mount Desert Island, Island Astronomy LLC was simply “Astronomy done on 'The Island'”: Mount Desert Island.

Answer #2—A type of astronomy

As time passed, Island Astronomy developed a uniquely Down East connotation. This was something new—a center combining public lectures, sky gazing, telescope sales, a guest cottage, and an observatory under naturally dark skies next to Acadia National Park. In the words of an early visitor to the rustic shop (right) on a working lobster wharf, full of telescopes, books, classical instruments, and Oriental rugs: “It was like no place on earth.”

Answer #3—A legal distinction

While we were transitioning into a non-profit organization in the fall of 2004, the State of Maine did not recognize that Island Astronomy was distinct from Island Astronomy LLC. The addition of another word was recommended by the Secretary of State's office. "Institute" fit the bill, clarifying the organization's mission to play an educational role in the community. The Island Astronomy Institute was born.

Answer #4—An island In space

On the cultural side of our mission, the physical isolation of an island builds a sense of community, a sense brought home by the Apollo images of the earth floating in space (above left, courtesy of NASA). The same geographic construct of "island," at work in our first community-based name, brings a similar theme to the social and economic interdependence that all citizens of our "island planet" have a stake in. Research astronomers (as scientists) cannot concern themselves so overtly with the raw inspiration for poetry, literature and music as the Island Astronomy Institute does.

Answer #5—An island universe

The Milky Way provides the final meaning of our name. When the pale, fuzzy patch of sky called the Andromeda Nebula (right) was recognized early in the 20th century as a massive disk of stars viewed from an immense distance, it was declared to be an "island universe." Its recognition as a totally distinct universe of stars separated by a vast expanse of empty space stunned the world.

Astronomers then realized that the bright band of light circling the night sky is simply our perspective from within such an island universe. We refer to this band of light as the Milky Way in honor of its legendary source as the milk from the Greek Goddess Hera. Since the Greek word for milk is galactica, it was natural to name all such structures as "galaxies" in honor of our own Milky Way's role in Greek mythology.

The rich naked-eye detail of the Milky Way, so easily erased by light pollution, is truly a cultural and educational resource. The Institute seeks to promote and protect this modern perspective, which is lost to the majority of the developed world.

Why did you leave that wonderful shop in Bernard?

The simple answer is: We could not begin to cover the “market value” of the shop. The same economic forces that drive fishermen from the waterfronts across the state of Maine made this painful decision inevitable.

Can I visit Meadow View Observatory?

The observatory and guest cottage do not belong to the Institute and remain private property. They are not open to the public.

Can Peter Homer come talk to my class, group or organization?

Possibly, Mr Homer is one of the two presenters of our Hands in Space educational outreach program. Rates are available for full- and half-day programs.