April sees the heavens light up with the continuing nova light explosion and a meteor shower. As said before, compared to areas near Boston or New Bedford, the South Coast has pretty good dark skies. We are very fortunate in that regard. For the astrophysicist in us all, please use this month’s guide to assist in your stargazing and cosmic sightseeing.

            The star T Coronae Borealis, nicknamed “Blaze Star,” is once again going nova, or exploding with light and radiation. The star system is about 3,000 light years away and is actually two stars: a white dwarf and a red giant. The stars appear to explode, or “flare” around every 80 years due to regular bursts of material from the smaller star. Rather than a supernova, this event is referred to as a “recurrent nova.” The current nova is visible to the naked eye from now until around August and appears similar to the North Star (Polaris).

            April’s full moon is referred to as the “Pink Moon,” named after flowers that bloom in spring. It will occur on April 13. Other self-evident names are Breaking Ice Moon and Budding Moon. Due to the moon nearing its farthest point from earth in its orbit, this full moon is actually a “Micro Pink Moon.”

            Mercury will be visible around this time and will be most visible on April 21 due to it being the farthest from the sun in its orbit. Mercury, Venus and Saturn will be near each other in the sky and visible in the morning, before sunrise.

            The second major meteor shower of the year, the Lyrid Meteor Shower, will peak April 22 and April 23. There will be between 15 and 20 meteors per hour during this time. It will be visible in most of the sky but is concentrated in the East, near the star Vega.

            Earth Day is April 22, and if the long tradition of turning down/off lights is continued, it will make it easier to view these astronomic sights! Happy and lucky stargazing to you.

Astronomy Update for April

By Sam Bishop

            The new headquarters of the Marion Department of Public Works is nearing completion and will be enclosed for the first time by week’s end, according to the town’s Facilities Director, Shaun Cormier.

            “All the garage doors are getting installed,” said Cormier. “The sheetrock is up. Some of the finish HVAC is going in next week, not this week.”

            Located on the spot originally recommended by former DPW Director Rob Zora, the new building measures 200 feet long, 72 feet wide, approximately 26 feet high, and is divided into three basic segments for operations including vehicle maintenance/wash bay, a mechanics shop, office space and a locker room with showers, along with a large, cold-storage space to protect town vehicles from the elements.

            Waiting now on Eversource, the building is still operating on the temporary electricity and lighting that has enabled the building through the winter months.

            Vetted by the Planning Board in November 2023, the DPW building began construction a year later with the arrival of Morton Buildings prefabricated materials and the digging of piers to anchor the foundation and connection to water and sewer infrastructure.

            “Tractor-trailer trucks, they showed up one after another, all pieces. It’s like a giant Erector set,” said DPW Director Jody Dickerson. “I still have mine,” he joked.

            Soon after, the frame went up quickly. Phase 1 was completed in November with the addition of temporary electricity and lighting to aid indoor work in the winter months.

            Interior trenching and piping for the basis of the wash bays’ radiant heating system under the concrete floor was completed early in winter, and by the end of winter work on office space was well under way.

            General contractor South Coast Improvement is scheduled to complete its mission by the end of April, which will be handed off to the town for finishing work inside and out.

            “A lot of that is town responsibility, just like a lot of the exterior grading is town responsibility,” Cormier explained. The Facilities Department is responsible for detailing the inside of the building, and the DPW will iron out the grading, landscaping and paving.

            The cost of construction approximates $6,000,000, and Town Meeting last voted to allocate funds for the project two years ago. By handling as much as it has rather than farm out work, the town has saved over $500,000, according to Cormier.

            Originally designed as a two-building concept not including the salt shed yet to go up near the water tower, the building was redesigned as one building so as to eliminate infrastructural and other redundancies.

            The building will be entirely powered and heated by electricity, and the south-facing half of the building’s roof is designed to accommodate solar panels.

            “That side gets sun, all day,” said Cormier.

            The salt shed planned for later in the summer is to be located between the building and the water tower at Benson Brook. Cormier said that funding for the salt shed is in the procurement stage.

            Cormier said the builders have not had to deviate from the design. “It’s so simple that there weren’t any major changes,” he said.

            “I’d be happy if I’m in by June,” said Dickerson. “Being realistic, spring is our busiest time.”

            The present DPW site on the opposite side of Route 6 will become the subject of warrant articles for a capital project subject to vote by the Annual Town Meeting. The proposal is to remove the old, wooden buildings and preserve and renovate three of the buildings at the site.

By Mick Colageo

Superintendent Michael S. Nelson and Principal Lynn Dessert are proud to announce that Sippican Elementary School students pulled off a stellar Sippican Science Fair on Wednesday, March 26.

            Enrichment Teacher Chelsey Lawrence organized Sippican’s 2025 Science Fair, which included work from 60 participants who entered about 40 projects.

            “We had an amazing Science Fair this year,” said Lawrence. “It’s so fun to see what students are passionate about and choose to study.”

            Students chose topics, created their projects at home, and presented them during the science fair.

            “We had some incredibly high-quality projects this year, and students had fun while also learning a lot,” said Lawrence. “In addition to completing the project at home, they also presented what they learned to judges, peers, and parents.”

            Students had the option to enter individually or as groups, and projects could be an experiment that followed the Scientific Method, an invention that followed the Engineering Design Process, or, for grades 5 and 6, an original coding project.

            “Coding is a new category for the Science Fair, and some of the fifth and sixth graders worked incredibly hard to teach themselves and figure out bugs along the way,” said Lawrence. “I’m so proud of all of our student participants. We also had an activity station run by Mad Science, which was sponsored by our parent organization VASE, where students could make and fly airplane gliders.”

            The following students took home Sippican Science Fair honors:

            -First-grade student Jolee Woods won a blue ribbon for her project, “How do plant hormones affect plant growth?”

            -Second-grade student Sagan Tomasik-Jones won a blue ribbon for her project, “Plants: Which solution is better?”

            -Third-grade student Hailey Costa won a blue ribbon for her project, “The Dirt on Soil.”

            -Fourth-grade students Amelia Whinnem, Zoe Callina, and Neriah Andrewski won a blue ribbon for their project, “Filtering Water.”

            -Fifth-grade students Aidan Zhou, Matthew Oien, and Rowan Farquarson won a blue ribbon for their Coding project, “Tree Hugger AI.”

            -Sixth-grade student Samuel Becker won a blue ribbon for his project, “Which growing medium helps plants grow best?”

            “Our students demonstrated exceptional scientific rigor and creativity at the recent Science Fair,” said Assistant Principal Greg Thomas. “The projects showcased a depth of understanding and a commitment to inquiry that surpassed expectations. We are incredibly proud of the high caliber of work presented, and it reflects the dedication of both our students and their supportive teachers.”

            “Congratulations to all the winners and participants of this year’s Sippican Science Fair,” said Superintendent Nelson. “Every year, I look forward to seeing our students display their creativity and scientific reasoning. This year’s submissions were impressive.”

            “Our students work very hard on their science projects,” said Principal Dessert. “The results of their hard work did not disappoint. I’m already looking forward to next year’s Sippican Science Fair.”