Before the pandemic took hold in the state, dozens would gather at the Springfield Museums each month to look at the stars together. But when social distancing quickly shut down the meeting, Kevin Kopchynski worked to adapt it so everyone could still safely enjoy space.
Kopchynski is an astronomy educator with the the Stars Over Springfield program at the Springfield Museums. He and participants now meet over the video conferencing app Zoom to look at the sky through free software he found online. He said the virtual setup allows the program to look at what the sky will look like days into the future.
"With all this that's been going on, people can kind of feel stuck and feel like maybe time has just come to a halt," Kopchynski said. "But out in the night sky, if you're looking from night to night, or maybe week to week, there are definitely changes showing us that the cycles of nature continue, and time is moving on, and we're moving to the end of this [pandemic]."
The monthly program is free and open to the public while it is being held virtually.
Click on the audio player above to listen to the full episode.
