John Nelson, Country Pontiac
January 18, 2008
To Whom It May Concern,
The Lake County Astronomical Society (LCAS) formally recognizes the assistance of John Nelson of Country Pontiac in Antioch, Illinois, for cooperating with LCAS and the Antioch Upper Grade School during our astronomy "star party" on November 9, 2007. Educational star parties allow students to have an extraordinary view of distance celestial objects using the telescopes of LCAS members. The quality of the view depends on the amount of ground lighting that reflects into the sky. Less ground lighting allows the students to see more detail in the objects in the telescope. The objects being viewed on November 9 included distant galaxies, star clusters and a comet.
At the request of Frances Dellutri of AUGS, the staff at Country Pontiac agreed to reduce the lighting at the dealership to allow the students to have the best possible star party from the school site. During the event, the reduced lighting at the dealership significantly helped the students to see and appreciate the various celestial objects that LCAS volunteers showed.
The cooperation between Country Pontiac, AUGS and LCAS for the event improved the quality of the November 9 event for the students and demonstrated that commercial locations can coexist with groups like astronomers who promote reduced lighting.
The Lake County Astronomical Society (LCAS) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that serves its members and the public in northeastern Illinois. LCAS was founded in 1982 with a charter that includes the commitment to "...promote the science of astronomy...". The LakeSky Star award is a special honor for individuals or organizations who make a distinctive contribution to the promotion of astronomy.
LCAS thanks John Nelson and his staff at Country Pontiac with a LakeSky Star for their assistance in helping the AUGS teachers and LCAS volunteers promote astronomy to the students at the event.
On behalf of LCAS,
Joe Shuster
