Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Welcomes Dr. Adam Lark Featured Guest for June Speaker Series

June 13, 2023

NANTUCKET, MA—The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) announces that it will host Dr. Adam Lark as a featured presenter for its Science Speaker Series this month. His presentation, “Exoplanets: Where They Are and How You Can Help Find Them” will take place on June 15 at 7pm on Zoom. This event is free to all.

 

Considering the immense size and scale of our own solar system, one would expect that finding planets around other stars, or exoplanets, would be nearly impossible. However, over the past few decades, astronomers have developed many amazing techniques for accomplishing this task. In this talk, Lark will discuss these techniques, and describe the method used to aid in the search for exoplanets. He will also describe how you can get involved in helping NASA discover exoplanets using your own backyard telescope!
 

Dr. Adam Lark is an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Physics Department at Hamilton College and the Director of the Peters Observatory. He earned his doctorate at the University of Toledo researching discovery-based learning in physics laboratories and globular clusters detection techniques. Using the modest telescope at the Peters Observatory, Lark aids in the search for exoplanets through NASA's TESS follow-up exoplanet observation program.


This series is generously presented by our lead sponsor, Bank of America. Additionally we thank Cisco Brewers Nantucket and the White Elephant Hotel and Resort for their support in our Science Speaker Series.  For additional details or to register, please visit https://www.mariamitchell.org/science-speaker-series.

 

The Maria Mitchell Association was founded in 1902 to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. After she discovered a comet in 1847, Mitchell’s international fame led to many achievements and awards, including an appointment as the first female professor of astronomy at Vassar College. Maria Mitchell believed in “learning by doing” and today that philosophy is reflected in the MMA’s mission statement, programs, research projects, and other activities. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages.


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For Immediate Release

June 5, 2023

Contact: Molly Mosscrop,

mmosscrop@mariamitchell.org

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Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

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July 15. {1863} My dear Sally . . . I think Mitchell is all right in his algebra. He can’t stand an examination in Trig but I don’t believe he will have a rigorous one. Father has seen the Prof. and will give him a letter to them.  If you can’t be honest with your sibling, who can you be honest with? Apparently, Sally Mitchell Barney’s son, William Mitchell Barney – known as Mitchell as his cousin William Mitchell Barney was known as Willie (how is that for honoring your father?!) – was visiting his aunt Maria and his grandfather, William Mitchell, at their home in Lynn, MA. Sally still lived on Nantucket and I suspect Mitchell was not only visiting but getting some much needed help with his mathematics by his aunt Maria. As always, she is brutally honest – he won’t pass a test in trigonometry (but, neither would I!). JNLF

Top O’ the Ridge!

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 29, 2026
In April and early May, at long last, the Mitchell House roof was replaced. (I noted this in an earlier blog.) I had also noted that the roofwalk, given the condition it was in and its location – sitting on the ridge – had to be replaced. They had thought they could jack it up – as they have done with other walks – but the Blizzard of February 2026 that was ALL wind (83 MPH winds – read Category 1 Hurricane) and no real snow, made the walk impossible to treat in such a manner (read: crumble). So, after much discussion, review by our preservation easement holder, and permits, as well as some fundraising, we are replacing the roofwalk. The prior walk was not the original. The original blew off in a gale in the late nineteenth century, replaced at some point in the 1930s, and likely replaced again in the 1960s or 1970s. Then, since that time, it was heavily repaired. Its framing members were notched to accept the ridge boards (read: peak) of the roof and I think that may have been an original way to construct a walk. Makes perfect sense – and gives the walk more support and a lower profile. It was after all about putting out chimney fires and preventing roof fires. People copied what worked – and there have been a few others noted to be built in this manner still. It presents an issue though – because if you need to work on the ridge board or close to it – you cannot get to it easily – I guess you may be able to access it to some extent by lifting the deck boards of the walk. The new Mitchell House roofwalk will sit about six inches above the ridge – which will also allow air to circulate better over the ridge and the shakes in that area. That is the only thing that will really be different. It is protected by a preservation easement – as part of the Mitchell House’s easement – and frankly, even if we did not have an easement, we would not want it to look any different. So keep your eyes to the skies at 1 Vestal as we work to re-build the walk. With a special thank you to Barber and Sons and Lydon and Sons. JNLF

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By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 22, 2026
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