Stargazing at Payson Park Reservoir
April 5, 2008

There was an element of adventure in this program. We met at the Cambridge Water Department parking lot and carpooled over to Cambridge's Payson Park Reservoir, which is located on top of a hill in Belmont. This reservoir is the covered holding tank for purified drinking water that is gravity-fed to all of Cambridge. Most Cambridge residents don't know that it exists.

When the group had gathered, Fresh Pond Ranger Jean Rogers let us into the fenced reservoir through the brick gatehouse. The reservoir to our eyes was an enormous flat lawn with a road down the middle, and encircled by a dry moat. Jean told us that we were standing above millions of gallons of water, enough to supply the city for two days. She gave us a summary of the history and workings of the reservoir, and answered questions.

Then Joshua Roth, our Stargazing program leader talked with us about the night sky and how it changes during different times of night and different seasons. To help us identify constellations, he gave out star charts for the evening sky in April. We used telescopes to look at Sirius, the brightest star; Saturn and its rings; and Mars. Joshua had lots of information to share about telescopes, stargazing events, and unusual celestial phenomena.

You can see and download a STAR CHART similar to the ones we used from the Orion Telescope and Binoculars website at www.telescope.com .