Explore galaxies with large telescopes at Palms Resort

Palms Resort Saipan has acquired six sophisticated telescopes to give the local community an opportunity to explore the stars and galaxy.

Russel Snow, president of United Micronesia Development Association, which owns the hotel, said it is his profound interest in astronomy that prompted him to bring in the new equipment, made by Japan’s Vixen.

He said Saipan should be thankful for its “clear dark sky” because it is a wonderful natural resource for stargazers.

Snow said the telescopes are of research quality, with top-of-the-line optical components.

Snow personally invited Dr. J. Ward Moody, an astronomy professor at Brigham Young University, to conduct presentations on the telescopes and share his knowledge about the dark skies of Saipan.

Moody has been doing the presentations since Feb. 2. He should have finished it last Feb. 8 but Palms decided to let him stay until the end of this month.

The presentations are free. The next one will be on Feb. 11 and 13. The public may call the hotel for reservations.

Moody said all the presentations were full and the people were excited about it.

“Majority are amazed and they want this equipment to stay,” said Moody, who was just named Palms Resort’s resident astronomer.

“Wow is the common word that all the people who have come to enjoy the fun have said,” Snow said.

Snow has decided to give the local community free use of the equipment during scheduled viewing, depending on the condition of the night sky.

“There will be dinner programs where they can pay a reasonable price for their food but the telescopes are free to use,” said Snow.

With the new telescopes, Moody said one could see objects that are several billions light years away from Earth.

On Friday, those who attended were able to peep at the moon and the two most visible planets, Venus and Saturn.

Moody also talked about constellations and the tales and symbols that ancient historians have used to describe the night sky.

He also talked about the brightest stars, which are Sirius and Canopus, and other amazing spots in the horizon.

The astronomer said the dark skies of Saipan is conducive to astronomy because one can watch the stars in fine detail, which you don’t see anywhere else.

“We have here a sky that is free from light pollution or if there is, it is very minimal,” he said.

Also present at Friday’s presentation was Pam Eastlick of the Planetarium in Guam. Eastlick runs a weekly astronomy column at Pacific Daily News.

Snow and Moody have already met with the Boy Scout and Cub Scout in the CNMI and at the end of the month, they will award the scouts with Astronomy merit badges.

Palms is also supporting Grace Christian Academy students in a trip to Honolulu to visit the Monekea Observatory and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the U.S. mainland.