The Fanwood Scotch Plains Rotary Club recently donated two Orion Starblast 4.5 telescopes to Fanwood Memorial Library and the Scotch Plains Public Library which library patrons can check out with a library card. Rotarian Wayne Zuhl was inspired by an article he read in Sky & Telescope Magazine about an astronomy club in New Hampshire which successfully implemented a program to provide free telescopes to libraries. According to Zuhl, the program has been “well received by libraries and patrons alike,” contributing more than 100 telescopes to libraries throughout the state.
The telescopes cost approximately $400 each, including modifications specially designed by Wayne Zuhl and Jim Nordhausen of Amateur Astronomers, Inc. (AAI) in Cranford, to make them user-friendly for beginners. Features include a star map, lens pen to clean the eyepiece, head light for handsfree illumination, and an instruction manual with step-by-step directions for using the telescope. Patrons will also find helpful information about the donor organization and AAI.
Fanwood and Scotch Plains Libraries will loan the telescopes to residents and “bring joy and the beauty of the night to everyone,” said Zuhl. Each library will have its own telescope so that aspiring astronomers can view the moon, planets, and other celestial wonders at their leisure.
Eventually, the Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotary Club hopes to collaborate with other Rotary Clubs to expand the telescope project to include additional libraries in New Jersey. In true democratic spirit, future stargazers will soon have the opportunity to borrow a telescope with as much ease as a library book.
During the May 10th Fanwood Scotch Plains Rotary Club Rotary Club meeting two Orion Starblast 4.5 telescopes were
donated to the Fanwood Memorial Library and the Scotch Plains Public Library for patrons to check out.
(above l to r) Don Rosenberg, Wayne Zuhl, Dan Weiss, Director of Fanwood Memorial Library; FSP Rotary President
Carmela Resnick; Kim Decker, Michelle Willis, Directory of Scotch Plains Public Library; and Steve Goldberg.
Photo by Maria LaMorte-Wright.
