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- Stargazing group photo. Photo: Marty Murphy
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- Amateur astronomers. Photo: Adam Schreckenberger
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- Astronomy introduction. Photo: Yun He
On Sept. 9, Fermilab Asian Pacific Association (FAPA) hosted a Mooncake Social and Stargazing event on the Fermilab Lederman Science Center lawn on a night with a beautiful full moon. Five of the lab’s amateur astronomers (Denton Morris, Marty Murphy, Hogan Nguyen, Cheng-Yang Tan, and Genfa Wu) brought their telescopes and shared their knowledge about astronomy. An estimated 80 people enjoyed this stargazing experience, socializing with fellow colleagues and friends, the mooncakes and a wonderful autumn evening outdoors.
Thank you to all who participated in the planning of this event, and all who attended. Thanks to lab’s security team for accommodating a special event security plan, and to Amber Kenney for advocating and supporting this event as FAPA’s executive sponsor. Thanks to Genfa Wu for leading this effort, to Cindy Joe, Sudeshna Ganguly, Yi Xie, Yun He, and Zunping Liu for co-hosting, and to Anahi Ruiz Beltran for coordinating the event approval process.
A festival is a time to be grateful and celebrate those moments with family and friends. Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节) is also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival. On this day in Chinese culture, it is believed that the moon is at its brightest and fullest size, coinciding with harvest time in the middle of autumn. In Chinese culture, a round shape symbolizes completeness and reunion. Watching the full moon and sharing mooncakes with family and friends is one of the hallmark traditions of this festival.
See the FAPA SharePoint page for more photos (login with services account required).