Shades of color are deepening in ocean waters, where water is getting greener in the polar regions, and turning bluer at the equator. A change that could have an effect on fisheries, according to a newly released study.

The changing colors indicate that concentrations of chlorophyll in the blue waters of the tropics and subtropics are declining while simultaneously increasing in the green-colored ocean waters at the Earth’s poles, the authors explain in the paper published Thursday in Science journal.

Chlorophyll is the green pigment that give things like plants and algae their color. In the ocean, chlorophyll concentrations are a measure of phytoplankton, or microscopic plants that are the base of the ocean food chain and convert sunlight into energy through photosynthesis.

“This is the first time that we say, okay, if we look at our ocean globally, we would say see, we have high chlorophyll concentration in the north high latitude, but we have low chlorophyll concentration in the subtropical and tropical region,” Dr. Haipeng Zhao said. Zhao is first author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher who worked with Dr. Nicolas Cassar, a professor of biogeochemistry at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, and Dr. Susan Lozier, a professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Georgia Tech.

Why this is happening will take further investigation, as does how it may impact coastal fisheries.

For this study, researchers analyzed two decades’ worth of satellite data collected by a NASA instrument that scans the globe every two days.

The team focused on the open ocean.

“There’s still a lot of limitation by using satellite data to observe the coastal change of phytoplankton because, in the coastal border, the sediments, a lot of minerals, they just come to the surface of the ocean and that makes it difficult for the satellite to detect whether it’s the phytoplankton blooms or something else,” Zhao said. “But we think (these areas) are very important.”

More than half of the world’s fish catch comes from tropical and subtropical regions, according to the study. A significant amount of that catch comes from coastal fisheries within those regions.

“Although our study focuses on open ocean waters, any persistent changes in these areas could profoundly affect low- and middle-income nations, such as Pacific Island nations, that rely on fisheries for sustenance and economic development,” the study states. “Future investigations should focus on these regions to provide a more comprehensive understanding.”

The authors note that it will be particularly important to study how climate change may be affecting these changes.  

This study does not correlate the changes in chlorophyll concentrations with climate change.

The satellite records researchers analyzed go back no more than 20 to 25 years, Zhao said. That’s a relatively short amount of time in terms of changes in the ocean process.

Researchers looked at different variables, such as wind speed, water surface temperature, and sunlight, to see how those may be affecting the changes they noted in chlorophyll concentrations.

“But we did find that the water is getting warmer, which is widespread increase in the temperature in the global ocean,” he noted.

The global ocean is complicated to study, he said. It involves currents and the moving of a lot of materials, like sediments, through the water.

“I think we need to get a lot of support to continue the research,” Zhao said.

That will entail getting away from solely relying on satellite observation and physically traveling to the open ocean to collect more data, he said.

“That will increase our confidence and I think that will generate more evidence to support our conclusion,” Zhao said. “At least we have already observed and what has been striking to tell people is our oceans are changing and it has potential impacts to everywhere.”

This year’s Crystal Coast Star Party and celebration of International Dark Sky Week is set for this weekend on Harkers Island.

The Cape Lookout National Seashore, Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center and the Crystal Coast Stargazers are hosting the two-day event that includes stargazing, children’s activities and a special presentation by a NASA leader.   

The event is being offered at no charge but organizers ask those who plan to attend to register using the online form for planning purposes.

Cape Lookout National Seashore was certified as an International Dark Sky Park in December 2021 for “exceptional quality of the night skies of the park and the opportunities for astronomy-based experiences. Cape Lookout National Seashore is the first Atlantic coastal Dark Sky Place in the NPS to receive this certification,” according to the National Park Service.

As part of the star party programming, NASA’s Nagin Cox, mission lead on the Mars Perseverance Rover and the Curiosity Rover, will give a special talk starting at 4 p.m. Saturday titled, “Dare Mighty Things: Mars Rovers Paving the Way” in the museum’s education hall.

Cox graduated from Cornell University and was commissioned as an officer in the Air Force. She worked in F-16 Aircrew Training and received a master’s in Space Operations Systems Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. While captain, she served as an Orbital Analyst at NORAD/Space Command in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs.

Cox joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1993 has been a systems engineer and manager on multiple interplanetary robotic missions including NASA/JPL’s Galileo mission to Jupiter, the Mars Exploration Rover Missions and the Kepler telescope mission to search for Earth-like planets around other stars, according to the NASA website.

Other activities include public stargazing at the seashore’s visitor center on Harkers Island starting at 8:30 p.m. both Friday and Saturday. Crystal Coast Stargazers will have their telescopes set up for public stargazing and NASA Solar System Ambassadors are to be on-site.

From 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, NC SciFest Kids’ Astronomy Activities with Cape Lookout Ranger Sabrina Godin will be held in the museum’s education hall, and NASA Solar System Ambassador Jimmy Fulks will be on hand for solar viewing at the seashore’s visitor center.

The starlight cruises to Cape Lookout Lighthouse scheduled for both nights are fully booked and the wait list is closed.

Eight distinguished North Carolinians have been chosen to receive the state’s highest civilian honor, the North Carolina Award, two of which have strong ties to the coast.

The North Carolina General Assembly established the award in 1961 to recognize significant contributions to the state and nation in the fields of fine arts, literature, public service and science. The awards have been presented annually since 1964.

For their contributions to science are environmental attorney, photographer and advocate Tom Earnhardt and astronaut Christina Koch, who grew up in Onslow County.

“Over the past six decades, the North Carolina Award has been given to many remarkable North Carolinians,” said Reid Wilson, secretary of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. “This year’s awardees join an illustrious list of people who have benefitted North Carolina through their impressive accomplishments in public service, literature, science, and the arts. This year’s event will benefit our neighbors in Western North Carolina who were harmed by the devastating storm.”

Gov. Roy Cooper is to present the awards at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, in the Raleigh Marriott City Center. All proceeds from ticket sales for the awards ceremony will go to the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund for Hurricane Helene recovery. Event tickets are by invitation only.

The information below from North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources has been edited.

Science: Tom Earnhardt

Earnhardt’s career includes time as an assistant attorney general at the N.C. Department of Justice, assistant secretary of the N.C. Department of Administration, and as a professor at North Carolina Central University School of Law.

In 1971, Earnhardt was one of the first attorneys hired at the N.C. Department of Justice in the “new arena” of environmental law. While working with the late Jim Holshouser, who served as governor from 1973 to 1977, he played a key role in helping to preserve critical natural areas, including the New River in northwestern North Carolina and the southernmost Outer Banks, today’s Cape Lookout National Seashore.

He is a board member of the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review and Earnhardt has also served on the boards of numerous natural resource organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and the North Carolina Botanical Garden.

He is the writer, host and coproducer of the long-running PBS series “Exploring North Carolina,” which highlights the importance of our natural heritage in the life of every North Carolinian.

Science: Christina Koch

Christina Koch, who grew up in Jacksonville, was selected to be a NASA astronaut in 2013. She set the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman with 328 days in space, participated in the first all-female spacewalk, and was a flight engineer on the International Space Station for Expeditions 59 through 61.

Koch is a graduate of the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics and North Carolina State University. Before becoming an astronaut, she worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland as an electrical engineer, contributing to instruments for various NASA space science missions.

Throughout her career, Koch has engaged in educational outreach, technical instruction, and volunteer tutoring, demonstrating her dedication to inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers. As part of the Artemis II mission scheduled for 2025, Koch will become the first woman to participate in a lunar mission.

Fine Arts: The Avett Brothers

Brothers Scott and Seth Avett and their longtime friend Bob Crawford lead the folk rock band The Avett Brothers. From Concord, their partnership began when the two brothers merged Seth Avett’s high school band, Margo, and Scott Avett’s college band, Nemo, and released three albums as Nemo. After the group disbanded, Scott and Seth continued to write acoustic music together.

In 2001 stand-up bassist Bob Crawford joined the Avetts, and the band released its first full-length album, “Country Was” in 2002. The band has been nominated for three Grammy awards and been nominated for and won several awards from the Americana Music Association, including Duo/Group of the Year and New/Emerging Artist of the Year awards in 2007.

Literature: Frank A. Bruni Jr.

Bruni has been a prominent journalist for more than three decades, principally at The New York Times, where his various roles have included op-ed columnist, White House correspondent, Rome bureau chief and chief restaurant critic.

He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar and wrote for the student paper, the Daily Tar Heel.

As the Times’s first openly gay op-ed columnist, in 2016 Bruni was honored by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association with the Randy Shilts Award for his lifetime contribution to LGBTQ equality. Bruni is the author of five bestselling books including the most recent, “The Age of Grievance,” an examination of America’s political dysfunction and culture wars.

He became a full professor at Duke University in 2021, teaching media-oriented classes in the Sanford School of Public Policy. Now living in North Carolina, he continues to write his popular weekly newsletter for the New York Times and to produce occasional essays as a contributing opinion writer for the newspaper.

Fine Arts: William Henry Curry

Curry has had a “trailblazing role” as an African American in classical music, and is currently the music director and conductor of the Durham Symphony Orchestra.

From 1998 to 2016, he was the resident conductor and Summerfest artistic director of the North Carolina Symphony. During his career, he has conducted some of the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the major opera companies of New York, Chicago and Houston.

Curry is also a composer, and his works have been played by many of America’s finest orchestras. He has been a mentor for young musicians at the Peabody Conservatory, the Baltimore School of Arts, and many music schools in North Carolina.

Public Service: Dr. Harold L. Martin

Martin served as the 12th chancellor of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University from 2009-2024. He is the first alumnus to lead the institution.

His more than 40 years experience in education made him a key figure in N.C. A&T’s growth to become the largest of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, and one of the country’s top public research institutions.

His prior roles include senior vice president for Academic Affairs for the University of North Carolina System, and held leadership roles at Winston-Salem State University, where he served as the 11th chief administrator and seventh chancellor.

Since the award’s inception, more than 300 notable men and women have been honored by the state of North Carolina. Past recipients include William Friday, James Taylor, Etta Baker, Charles Kuralt, Maya Angelou, Lee Smith, Eric Church, Selma Burke, and Branford Marsalis.

National Aviation Day, held annually Aug. 19, always seems to be a pretty big deal at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills.

It is, after all, where Wilbur and Orville Wright first proved that heavier-than-air flight was possible.

The date celebrating flight was not chosen randomly. Orville Wright was born Aug. 19, 1874. Three years later, his sister Katherine was born on the same day. In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt declared as National Aviation Day Orville’s – and Katherine’s – birthday.

This year, to commemorate National Aviation Day and the innovation of the Wright brothers, Dr. Bob Balaram, former chief engineer for the Mars Ingenuity project, spoke Friday during a ceremony at the Wright Brothers Memorial about the challenges Ingenuity faced in becoming the first heavier-than-air aircraft to fly on another planet.

NASA now lists Balaram as emeritus, a role he defined as “handing off the reins to some of the younger members of the team.”

Six months ago, Balaram was the project’s chief engineer, and it was under his guidance that Ingenuity came to life, proving that flight was possible on the surface of Mars.

“This talk is really trying to draw some parallels between what the Wright brothers did here on Earth to fly for the first time … and what the Ingenuity team did on Mars to get that first helicopter on Mars,” he said.

Ingenuity is a four-blade helicopter with two sets of blades, upper and lower, that counter-rotate. Balaram brought with him a replica of the helicopter that was built using spare parts from the original.

At first glance, Ingenuity may not look all that remarkable — different, perhaps, but not too different in appearance from any number of drones. Yet what was on display is unlike any drone ever built.

It weighs only 4 pounds. Each of the helicopter blades weigh an ounce. Every component part of Ingenuity is designed to limit weight yet perform in an environment with temperatures that range between minus 130 to 60 degrees Farenheit.

The aircraft must be lightweight, Balaram explained, because the volume of Mars’ atmosphere is only 1% of Earth’s.

To demonstrate, Balaram held his arms out to about 3 feet.

“If I hold my arms out this way, I get about 2 pounds of air,” he said. “On Mars, that same volume is about an ounce or less.”

That difference parallels challenges the Wright brothers experienced.

The Ingenuity team built a 1/3-scale replica for test purposes. They had a chamber where the air pressure could be reduced to that of Mars’ atmosphere. As the rotors reached the 2,000 revolutions per minute needed for Mars flight, the model Ingenuity became uncontrollable, slammed into the walls of the chamber and broke.

Balaram showed a video of the event Friday during his talk.

“It turns out that helicopters on Earth — when they fly, their wings do flap up and down as they go around. And that flapping tends to induce an instability in the control, but on Earth the air is so thick that instability is not very much,” Dr. Balaram said.

On Mars, without the denser air, the dampening effect is lost.

The Wright brothers, Balaram noted, realized early on during their time at Kitty Hawk that they were not getting the lift expected from the calculations of their time.

“What they realized was most aerodynamic information that they had gotten was wrong. So they actually built their own wind tunnel … And they actually found out the correct aerodynamic tables,” he said.

The Ingenuity team faced a similar problem: There was theory about flight on Mars, but nothing practical because no one had ever flown in a 1% atmosphere. Nor, as it turned out, was there a proper wind tunnel to test designs.

“So we needed to build our own wind tunnel to understand what the dynamics of this Mars atmosphere would be,” he said.

The wind tunnel the Ingenuity team created was far more sophisticated than anything the Wrights could have envisioned, but like them, the only way to get the data that was needed was to build a wind tunnel.

There were other parallels.

Balaram pointed to the engine that Charlie Taylor built for the Wright brothers.

“It was an aluminum engine, a very new material to build an engine. In fact, precedent setting. And Charlie Taylor built the engine in six short weeks, and it produced real horsepower,” he said.

Because of the weight requirements of Ingenuity, extraordinary measures had to be taken to create the electric motor that would power the Mars helicopter’s rotors. Copper wire is the best material for generating the power from the battery, but what was needed was especially fine, square copper wire that would lay flat, weigh less and take up less space.

However, it all had to be done by hand. Everything in the construction of Ingenuity had to be done in a sterile setting to prevent contamination on Mars, and there wasn’t really anyone who had ever built something to wind wire with the tolerances needed.

The task of hand wiring Ingenuity fell to Matt Keenum of AeroVironment, one of the subcontractors on the project. Keenum was on hand for the presentation and Balaram recognized him as he explained what was involved.

“Matt had to spend about 100 hours under a microscope putting all the wiring in place for that motor,” he said.

The result was what Balaram described as “one of the most efficient motors you can possibly imagine for this very compact size.”

The first flight for the Wright brothers was a moment of triumph. Yet before the Wright Flyer lifted into the air, there was uncertainty and a real concern for the physical safety of whoever was in the aircraft.

The physical danger did not exist for the Ingenuity flight team, but there were moments of fear, perhaps none as great as simply getting to the surface of the planet.

“We hit the top of the Mars atmosphere and we have to decelerate from more than 5 miles a second down to zero in seven minutes. This is the scary part of any atmospheric landing, descending into the atmosphere,” Balaram said. “In the landing business, this is known as the seven minutes of terror landing on Mars.”

Ingenuity, attached to the bottom of the Mars Rover Perseverance, deployed and flew for the first time on April 19, 2021. Originally, mission planners had hoped Ingenuity would fly for a month and be a technology demonstration. As it turned out, though, Ingenuity has proved itself to be far more useful than originally envisioned.

Even though much of Ingenuity is high-tech, cutting-edge design, many of its components are off the shelf. Balaram pointed to its camera as an example.

“We have a color camera mounted to the side, very much like the cellphone camera,” he said.

“We fly ahead. We do a recon of various things that they may be interested in to find safe routes for the (Perseverance) rover. So that has turned out to be an extension of our technology demonstration, Balaram said. “Right now, it’s been almost a year and a half now that we’ve been flying together with the Perseverance Rover.”

There is now a small piece of the Wright Flyer on Mars. Wanting to pay tribute to the Wright brothers, a small piece of the muslin fabric of that first Wright Flyer has been attached to Ingenuity.

This month’s Astronomy Night at Cape Lookout National Seashore, a certified International Dark Sky Park, will feature a starlight cruise around the lighthouse as well as star gazing from park grounds.

Cape Lookout, the Crystal Coast Stargazers, a NASA Night Sky Network astronomy club, and Island Express Ferry Service, the park’s authorized passenger ferry service concessionaire, partnered for this special night set for Aug. 27 at the park’s Harkers Island Visitor Center.

The ferry will leave Harkers Island Visitor Center at 8 p.m. and return from the lighthouse dock at 10 p.m. Matthew Bruce, a NASA solar system ambassador, will give a laser-pointed tour describing the celestial objects of the night sky from the beach.

Space on the cruise is limited and reservations are required. The program is free. Ferry tickets are $27 for adults & $17 for ages 11 and under.

For those who want to stay on land, park staff and astronomers from the Crystal Coast Stargazers will host a star party on the visitor center grounds. Participants will be able to see the moon, and other astronomical objects above the Southern Outer Banks through the lens of a telescope. 

The free event is kid-friendly, but please no pets. Stargazing is weather dependent. 

Organizers suggest monitoring the weather or calling the Harkers Island Visitor Center at 252-728-2250 before 5 p.m. the day of the event to confirm status, and dressing accordingly. Attendees are welcome to bring lawn chairs or blankets, water, snacks, bug repellent, and flashlight with a red filter that helps in maintaining everyone’s night vision.

Those who own telescopes can bring them to Astronomy Night. 

For more information, go to http://go.nps.gov/astronomynight.

Allie Best never thought about studying birds while pursuing an undergraduate degree at a liberal arts college nestled on the banks of the Hudson River in New York.

By her senior year at Marist College, she knew she wanted to continue her studies and earn a master’s degree. And, she was really interested in conservation.

When she started making the rounds, reaching out to a number of professors at graduate schools she was eyeing to mark the next chapter in her academic pursuits, Best ended up having a conversation with an assistant professor at a university that she credits her parents for putting on her radar.

“Really it was a stroke of luck,” Best said in a recent telephone interview.

Ray Danner, an assistant professor of biology and marine biology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, had what he thought would be a research project that would work well for Best.

“We talked about how I had never worked with birds before, but I just really enjoy wildlife and I told him I could see myself enjoying this, but I have never really thought about studying birds,” Best said.

That conversation fueled Best to make her way from Poughkeepsie, New York, south to Wilmington, where she immersed herself in a lab and in the field, catching and tagging birds. She recently wrapped up a 14-week field research project monitoring least terns with fellow students and Danner on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

“It was amazing,” she said. “I paid attention to (birds) before just as someone enjoying nature and then really being able to understand more about them just opened my eyes to this whole new world of ornithology and I really, really enjoyed it.”

As Best enters her second year of graduate school later this month she does so with the distinction of being one of two recipients of the North Carolina Space Grant and North Carolina Sea Grant, a fellowship awarded to students whose research explores challenges facing the state’s coast.

Best was awarded the $10,000 grant to study the shrinking habitat of coastal plain swamp sparrows, palm-sized birds that breed in coastal marshes primarily from New Jersey south to Delaware and Maryland.

In 2007, scientists discovered that these tiny birds winter on the southeast Atlantic Coast between North Carolina and South Carolina.

Hyde County, the area of focus for Best’s research, is the center of the coastal plain swamp sparrows’ wintering range.

“This subspecies is going to be getting a lot of attention in the near future, I believe, from conservation organizations,” Danner said. “They’re declining and they’re one of these species that has small population size, small range to start with and very specialized habitat.”

Best will use a combination of technology and data from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, to forecast the effects of sea level rise and create models of those projected impacts of the birds’ habitat.

Coastal plain swamp sparrows prefer high marsh habitat, which is less adaptive to sea level rise because, unlike low marsh habitat, it does not flood with high tide and become exposed at low tide.

“I think it’s really important to understand how different sea level rise scenarios are going to affect these species in order to inform management decisions,” Best said. “To be clear, all marsh species are at a major threat here.”

In 2003, the United States Geological Survey recommended the coastal plain swamp sparrow be listed as a subspecies of concern by state and local governments because of its small population size and habitat.

Danner describe Bests’ research project as one where she will develop an intimate understanding of the birds’ habitat needs.

“You can imagine us attaching little radio transmitters to birds and following them around,” he said. “Now she’s analyzing those data to figure out where the birds go, what sorts of plants they use, what sorts of habitats they’re in. She uses satellite imagery to describe the habitat where the birds are found.”

Best, former captain of UNCW women’s basketball team, will use imagery to describe how much habitat exists in a region, then apply sea level rise models to that region to determine how much of that habitat will exist in the future.

“Marsh habitat’s being lost from a lot of different causes from developments and sea level rise and I think a lot of us are at the point where we see sea level rise is happening, there’s no disputing that anymore,” Danner said. Now it’s time to start making smart plans about adaptation. That’s really what Allie’s work focuses on. She’s not going to stop sea level rise. We’re just trying to help conservation managers decide how that we can adapt to it.”

Update:  Outer Banks Forever, the official nonprofit partner of the three Outer Banks national parks, and the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau announced Thursday that they will jointly livestream National Aviation Day programs at Wright Brothers National Memorial from 11 a.m. to noon Friday, Aug. 19. To join the National Aviation Day livestream event, visit Outer Banks Forever’s Facebook page.

Dr. J. “Bob” Balaram of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will help celebrate National Aviation Day, being observed Aug. 19 and Aug. 20 at the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

Balaram, the originator of the concept that became National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA’s, Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, and served as its chief engineer during its development, test and operations.

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took its first flight on Mars on April 19, 2021, marking the first powered flight on another planet. Described as a “Wright Brothers Moment,” this first flight marks the continuation of aviation achievements in the legacy of Wilbur and Orville Wright’s first powered flight in 1903.

At this year’s National Aviation Day event at Wright Brothers National Memorial, Balaram will present a series of public talks at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Aug. 19, a fee-free day, and 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Aug. 20, that explore the connections between the Wright Brothers and the Mars Ingenuity Project. A special evening program is scheduled for 8 p.m. Aug. 19.

Following Balaram’s presentations, a team from AeroVironment Inc, the developers of Ingenuity’s rotor system, landing gear and fuselage structure, are expected to demonstrate a working, flying model of Mars Ingenuity in the visitor center’s Flight Room.

Throughout the week, the visitor center is hosting temporary exhibit panels designed in conjunction with NASA highlighting the parallels between the first flights on Earth and Mars.

Learn about the James Webb Space Telescope that NASA launched in December during the next Astronomy Night at Cape Lookout National Seashore.

The free, family friendly event at the certified International Dark Sky Park is to start at 8 p.m. Friday, July 15, at the seashore’s Harkers Island Visitor Center.

Kicking off the night will be a 45-minute talk with NASA Solar System Ambassador Matthew Bruce on the Webb, which organizers said “is the largest, most powerful, and complex space telescope ever built and launched into space.” The first images captured by the telescope will be available to view.    

Immediately after the presentation, park staff and astronomers from the Crystal Coast Stargazers, a NASA Night Sky Network astronomy club, will host a Star Party on the visitor center grounds. Participants will be able to get a close-up view of the moon, and other astronomical objects above the southern Outer Banks using a telescope. 

While stargazing is weather-dependent, programs are rain or shine. 

Please monitor the weather or call the Harkers Island Visitor Center at 252-728-2250 before 5 p.m. the day of the event to confirm status. 

Organizers recommend dressing for the weather. Attendees are welcome to bring lawn chairs or blankets, water, snacks, bug repellent, and flashlight with a red filter that helps in maintaining everyone’s night vision. Leave pets at home.

Folks may also consider bringing their own telescopes to learn how to get the most out of their own telescopic equipment from members of the Stargazers club. 

For more information, visit http://go.nps.gov/astronomynight.   

A new publication is available to communities across the nation to learn how to address the climate crisis.

Released by Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Resilient Nation Partnership Network, NASA and other partners, “Building Alliances for Climate Action” provides various perspectives, personal stories, insights and resources about climate change for the whole community, including individuals, businesses, faith-based and community organizations, nonprofits, schools, media and all levels of government.

“To meet this moment, we need to invest in initiatives to break the cycles of disaster, damage and reconstruction,” said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell in a statement. “Our actions now will directly impact the future. In the past, FEMA was criticized for insufficient action on climate change. This will not be our future.”

Building Alliances for Climate Action is the second resource of the “Building Alliances” series that the Resilient Nation Partnership Network has co-developed. The first document, “Building Alliances for Equitable Resilience,” was the result of collaboration with NOAA and 26 partners in the fields of equity and resilience.

“NASA’s Earth observation and research supports the Biden-Harris administration’s climate agenda, which outlines putting the climate crisis at the center of our nation’s foreign policy and national security,” said NASA Administrator Sen. Bill Nelson. “NASA is working hand-in-hand with FEMA to ensure communities across the U.S. and around the world have the resources they need to adapt in the face of extreme weather – which is increasing due to climate change.”

The Resilient Nation Partnership Network held its sixth annual Partnership Forum, “Alliances for Climate Action” in October 2021 cohosted by FEMA and NASA. During the four-week forum, 37 speakers shared their perspectives and paths forward toward bolstering collective climate action.

Working with the diverse speakers from the Alliances for Climate Action Forum, the second installment of the “Building Alliances” series, captures the insights, takeaways and voices that are helping lead the charge against climate change.

Cape Lookout National Seashore officials, the Crystal Coast Stargazers and Island Express Ferry Service are celebrating International Dark Sky Week, April 22-23, and “Discover the Night” is the theme for the week set aside to bring awareness to light pollution.

Both nights are to feature stargazing at the national seashore’s Harkers Island Visitor Center and a nighttime cruise offered by Island Express Ferry Service.

The International Dark Sky Association recently named Cape Lookout National Seashore an International Dark Sky Park, in recognition of the “exceptional quality of the night skies of the park and the opportunities for astronomy-based experiences for park visitors,” according to the National Park Service. The Cape Lookout National Seashore is the first Atlantic Coast Dark Sky Place in the park service to receive the certification.

Both nights of stargazing at Harkers Island visitor center begin at 8 p.m. The Crystal Coast Stargazers plan to set up their own telescopes for the public to use or visitors can bring their own telescopes. 

All stargazers should be set up by 7:30 p.m. While there is no camping on the visitor center grounds, astronomers may stay with their telescopes throughout the night. 

Island Express Ferry Service, the park’s authorized passenger ferry service concessionaire, is offering visitors the chance to experience a starlight cruise, accompanied by NASA Solar System Ambassador Brandon Porter, who will provide a laser-pointed presentation of the night sky from the Cape Lookout Lighthouse area. 

The ferry departs the Harkers Island visitor center at 7:30 p.m. each night and returns from the lighthouse dock at 9 p.m., returning to Harkers Island by 9:30 p.m. For reservations and ticket prices call Island Express Ferry Service at 252-728-7433. 

Cape Lookout National Seashore is readying for the season by resuming a monthly outdoor stargazing event and opening its visitor center in Beaufort on April 1. Neither are offered during the winter months.

The national seashore’s next monthly Astronomy Night at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 26 at the Harkers Island Visitor Center.

During Astronomy Night, National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Solar System Ambassador, Brandon Porter, will introduce attendees to the celestial objects in the night sky that can be viewed with the naked eye, and with a telescope. 

After the presentation, park staff and astronomers from the Crystal Coast Stargazers, a NASA Night Sky Network astronomy club, will host a Star Party to view the moon and other astronomical objects above the Southern Outer Banks through a telescope. 

Organizers recommend that participants check the weather and dress accordingly, bring lawn chairs or blankets, water, snacks, bug repellent and flashlight with a red filter that helps maintain everyone’s night vision. 

The Beaufort Visitor Information Center is at 701 Front St., housed in the town hall building. Hours of the center will be 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily after reopening April 1. Inside the center there are exhibits on the ecology and history of the southern Outer Banks.

The visitor center is across the street from the Island Express Ferry Service dock, which is the authorized concessioner for passenger transport to Shackleford Banks. Call the ferry at 252-728-7433 or visit islandexpressferryservice.com for details.

Thirty-five sky-watching events are planned across the state, including a few on the coast, in April as part of the 10th annual Statewide Star Party.

Sponsored by North Carolina Space Grant, this year’s Star Party theme set for April 8-9 is “Understanding the Universe,” with a focus on science and engineering related to National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s James Webb Space Telescope. Host organizations are to be provided with a Star Party kit with hands-on activities and NASA resources on this theme.

Planned are public sky-watching events at state and local parks, colleges and universities, planetariums, science centers, nature centers and libraries. Organizers expect about 3,500 visitors to participate in the 35 events.

Activities on the coast are scheduled at the following locations:

• Fort Macon State Park with in Carteret County with the Crystal Coast Stargazers at 7 p.m. April 8.
• Dowdy Park in Nags Head with the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island and Back Bay Amateur Astronomy Club at 6:30 p.m. April 8.
• Carolina Beach State Park with Cape Fear Museum and Cape Fear Astronomical Society at 7 p.m. April 8.
• College of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City at 7 p.m. April 8.

“Star Party participants provide the curiosity, and host sites provide the telescopes. Hosts lead hands-on activities from the Star Party kit that help visitors explore the question of whether there is life elsewhere in the universe, how we might find it and what it might look like,” organizers said.

The Star Party is an initiative of the North Carolina Science Festival, a monthlong, statewide celebration of the educational, cultural and financial impact of science in the state.

The Museum of the Albemarle is hosting a traveling exhibit highlighting the work and lives of three African American female mathematicians who were critical to NASA.

The exhibit, “When the Computer Wore a Skirt: NASA’s Human Computers,” will open Feb. 14 at the museum Elizabeth City. Admission is free to the museum open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

On loan from the Hampton History Museum, the exhibit, which closes March 12, explores the history and personalities brought to light in the film and novel “Hidden Figures,” Dorothy Vaughan, Katherine Johnson and Hampton native-Mary Jackson.

Five women in 1935 formed a computer pool at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, to process data from wind tunnel and flight tests. By 1942, the human computers had become essential to operations. A memo that April stated: “The engineers admit themselves that the girl computers do the work more rapidly and accurately than they could,” according to NASA.

Langley began recruiting African American women in the 1940s as human computers, but due to segregation laws these “West Area Computers” were kept separate from their white counterparts.

This changed in the 1950s as NACA, later NASA, integrated and the “human computers” extended into the broader scientific community at NASA. By the 1960s they numbered in the hundreds.

Created by the Hampton History Museum staff, the exhibit is designed to travel to other museums, libraries, schools and other organizations.

For details on “Human Computers,” or other Hampton History Museum traveling exhibits, visit www.hamptonhistorymuseum.org/travelingexhibits or contact curator Allen Hoilman at 757-727-6875 or allen.hoilman@hampton.gov.

The night sky will be the star of the event Saturday at Cape Lookout National Seashore during this month’s Astronomy Night.

Set to begin at 5:30 p.m. at the national seashore’s Harkers Island Visitor Center, NASA Solar System Ambassador Brandon Porter will present a guided tour of the Autumn night sky. 

Following the presentation, park staff and area astronomers from the Crystal Coast Stargazers, which is a NASA Night Sky Network astronomy club, plan to host a star party that will offer participants the chance to watch the moon and other skybound objects through a telescope lens, depending on the weather.

Organizers recommend participants come prepared. Masks are required to attend, especially in groups while using the telescopes. Check the weather and dress accordingly and bring chairs for seating, water, snacks, bug repellent and flashlight with a red filter that helps in maintaining everyone’s night vision. 

You can bring your own telescope to learn how to get the most out of it from members of the Stargazers club. For more information, go to http://go.nps.gov/astronomynight    

This month’s Astronomy Night at Cape Lookout National Seashore Friday will begin with a presentation on fall constellations before heading out to look at the night sky from the seashore’s Harkers Island Visitor Center.

The 45-minute presentation with NASA Solar System Ambassador Matthew Bruce on “Fall Constellations — What to look for!” begins at 7 p.m. Friday. The program will introduce visitors to various celestial objects in the autumn sky that can be viewed with the naked eye and a telescope. 

Immediately after the presentation, park staff and astronomers from the Crystal Coast Stargazers, a NASA Night Sky Network astronomy club, will host a Star Party, depending on the weather, that will offer participants the chance to witness the moon and other sky-bound objects above the Southern Outer Banks through the lens of a telescope. 

Organizers recommend coming prepared by wearing a mask, which is required, especially in groups while using the telescopes, to dress for the weather and bring chairs for seating, water, snacks, bug repellent, and a flashlight with a red filter that helps in maintaining everyone’s night vision. 

Visitors can bring their own telescopes to learn tips from members of the Stargazers club. 

For more information, go to http://go.nps.gov/astronomynight.    

HARKERS ISLAND — Celestial objects will come into focus when Astronomy Night returns this month to the Cape Lookout National Seashore.

There’s no charge to attend the event set for 8-10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, at the Harkers Island Visitor Center.

NASA Solar System Ambassador Brandon Porter is to present a 45-minute presentation, “Let’s Talk Astronomy,” in the Harkers Island Theater. The program will introduce visitors to various celestial objects that can be viewed with or without a telescope.

Immediately after the presentation, park staff and astronomers from the Crystal Coast Stargazers, a NASA Night Sky Network astronomy club, plan to host a “Star Party” viewing with telescopes outside the visitor center, if weather allows. 

Attendees are advised to check the weather beforehand and dress accordingly.  Also, bring water, snacks, bug repellent and a flashlight with a red filter that helps in maintaining everyone’s night vision. 

Attendees are also encouraged to bring their own telescopes to learn from members of the Stargazers club how to get the most out of their equipment. 

For more information, visit http://go.nps.gov/astronomynight    

Featured Image

Crews from the Coast Guard Station Fort Macon and USCGC Maple, a 225-foot seagoing buoy tender, work March 10 with NASA members and the Orion Spacecraft development team to test the full-scale replica of the Orion Crew Module, or PORT, the station announced Sunday on Facebook and included a series of photos. To see more photos of the open water testing, visit the Coast Guard Station Fort Macon’s Facebook.

The Station’s 47-foot motor lifeboat towed the replica to an offshore test location. The open water testing for the Orion Crew Module included the Maple using its crane to flip the spacecraft over to simulate a splashdown of the module in rough conditions in the open sea.

A series of inflatable bags called the Crew Module Uprighting System, or CMUS, were activated once the spacecraft was upside down to test the crew’s ability to reorient and stabilize the capsule.

The CMUS system has undergone upgrades and testing in both NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory and in the Gulf Of Mexico.

This round of testing took place to validate the system’s effectiveness in open ocean conditions similar to what might be experienced during Orion’s actual splashdown, according to the Coast Guard. Station crews and the cutter Maple also provided platforms for NASA to collect imagery and vital test data that will be used in the final development of Orion components.

Got a photo you’d like to share with Coastal Review Online readers? Please read our submission guidelines.