The Astronomy club, founded in 2021, is a club like no other. With its amazing stargazing sessions that occur at Reynolds Field around dusk, this club certainly stands out. I interviewed club co-president Julien Amsellem to get more information about the club and what it does.

According to Julien, the club mainly goes out to Reynolds Field in the evening to look at celestial events. He brings a telescope, and they look at the sky to find constellations like Orion, or other astronomical wonders such as Earth’s moon, Jupiter, and sometimes Lunar eclipses.

The exact times that these sessions occur varies depending on the season. Around this time of year, the sessions usually start around 7, and people can stay for as long as they want. Since a major part of the club is congregating together to do these events, it is not only a great time to observe amazing celestial events, but also a great time to hang out with friends while learning.

So, how did this club come to be? The astronomy club was formed by six students who took the Astronomy elective class,  and fell in love with the subject so much that they decided to make a club. Julien says that the club can teach you a lot of basics about the topic, which, if you choose to take the elective, can help you out immensely.

“The coolest thing I saw while stargazing,” recounted Julien, “was when we were watching the Geminids back in December. It was 8pm, the sky was dark, and you could see meteors.” 

And then, at 10pm on the dot, he saw an Earth grazer, which is a very bright meteor that enters earth’s atmosphere and leaves again. Sadly, no one else was there since it was so late.

If you want to keep up with the club, feel free to check out their instagram page: @hastingshsastronomy