In Memoriam: Louise “Omie” Warner
If there's one thing I've learned from being a part of the John Glenn Astronomy Park is that if you want a dream to come true, it is best to share it.
Louise "Omie" Warner shared the dream of JGAP. Many years before it was built, at a time when it may have seemed a folly that could never possibly come to pass, Omie believed in it. She believed in it because she believed in inspiring people, particularly children to learn about the world, and the universe.
And it was in no small part because of this belief (and that of her loving spouse, Clyde) that JGAP came to be. Her dedication and passion steered JGAP and helped it become what it is today.
JGAP was not the first dream that was brought into fruition under her guidance. The Stratford Ecological Center, southwest of Delaware, OH, dedicated to her daughter, gives children around central Ohio an opportunity to connect with nature. If you have a young person in your life, consider paying it a visit.
Thank you, Omie for all that you did to make the world a better place. Thank you for your dreams.
Omie passed away on Tuesday, December 2 at home after a long illness.
Programs at JGAP have Ended for 2025
Winter skies are uncommonly cloudy in Ohio. Combine that with cold temperatures, and winter not always the best time for a night under the stars.
For this reason, JGAP takes a few months off over the winter to warm up, recharge and get ready for another season.
We will see you in March 2026 when our programs continue!
JGAP Is a dark site deigned to give people a place to enjoy pristine, starry skies. It takes time for human eyes to adapt to dark conditions after they have experienced bright lights.
So, please be considerate to others when driving in after dark and turn your high beams down. This helps keep our observing field dark. Then, once you have parked, please turn off your headlights right away.
If you have trouble in the dark finding your way to our field from the parking area, wait a minute or two without exposing yourself to bright light. Then walk. You’d be amazed what your eyes can do if you just give them a chance.
02. Astrophotography
01. Winter Skies
Image of M42, The Orion Nebula
Cold winter weather makes getting out and observing the cosmos challenging. If one is up for it, however, the rewards are many.
The winter sky is filled with bright stars: Castor and Pollux of Gemini, Capella in Auriga, Aldeberan in Taurus, Procyon in Monoceros, Betelgeuse and Rigel in Orion and the brilliant Sirius in Canis Majoris, the second brightest star in the sky (after the sun, of course.)
Between these stars, for those with telescopes, the winter skies offer countless gems to explore. The most famous and spectacular of these is M42, the great “Orion” Nebula.
Seen to the naked eye as a fuzzy “star” in the Sword of Orion, M42 is, in fact, a great stellar nursery- a place where stars are coming to life from a cloud of mostly hydrogen gas.
Those with telescopes and binoculars can, on dark winter nights, see this regions as a ghostly “flower” amongst the brilliant new stars it has given birth to.
03. Jupiter
Image of Jupiter byJoe Renzetti
That brilliant “star” high in the east at sundown is Jupiter, the largest and grandest of our solar system’s planets.
Looking at Jupiter through a telescope, we see thin colorful bands. These are the cloud-tops of Jupiter. The bands mark the different regions of the clouds where the Coriolis force causes winds to the east or west depending on how far from Jupiter’s equator the regions are.
This is the same phenomenon that, here on Earth, leads Ohio to experience winds primarily from west to east and folks in Miami, Florida to feel the breeze coming mainly from the opposite direction.
On Earth, the land sticks up and jostles the wind around a bit, making it chaotic. On Jupiter there is no land. In fact, Jupiter is pretty much clouds all the way to the core. Because of this the “trade winds” on Jupiter have nothing to run into, and the winds spin around and around along more or less straight paths.
Image by Alex Mullins
On most clear, moonless, evenings, you’ll find folks taking advantage of the dark skies at JGAP to shoot images of the night sky.
This pastime is known as astrophotography.
All are welcome to bring cameras and telescopes to JGAP to try their hand at this.
If you get a good image, why not share it with us by using our Instagram hashtag: #jgastropark
Predicting the Weather
The Clear Sky Clock
The chart below is an hour by hour prediction of how clear the skies will likely be over the coming two days. Cloud cover and transparency are the critical data points. In general, dark blue is best. If both transparency and Cloud Cover are indicated as dark blue, then skies are likely to be clear and filled with stars. Lighter colors are proportionally worse.
In recent months, the predictions of the Clear Sky Clock have been somewhat unreliable, so use at your own risk.
Clear Outside
The forecasts from the website Clear Outside have proven very accurate and reliable in recent months and give a great indication of what sort of clouds to expect, if any.
ClearOutside forecast for the Hocking Hills
Astrospherics
Another great site for predicting conditions on an hour by hour basis is Astropherics, whose model of late is better than that of the Clear Sky Clock. Access JGAP’s location with this link:
Weather.Gov
Finally, the best site for predicting the weather is the site from which all the data comes from in the first place, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s forecast page. The best forecast for JGAP is the Logan, Ohio hourly pinpoint forecast. Find it here.
The most critical part of the forecast is the blue line which represents the predicted cloud cover for that hour. Generally 50% or higher is not good.
Incidentally, Weather.gov is a product of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has suffered devastating cutbacks in recent days that may undermine its very existence. NOAA provides data that commercial services call upon for their own forecasts as well as conducts research that helps improve forecast models in the future. Please consider speaking up for it.
Support the Friends of the Hocking Hills State Park
Do you love the Hocking Hills State Park? Would you like to help projects that make HHSP an even better place? Do you love JGAP?
Then consider joining The Friends of the Hocking Hills State Park, an organization that supports projects like JGAP and other enhancements to the most beautiful park in Ohio.
http://www.friendsofhockinghills.org/
Join our Facebook and Instagram Communities
We have a Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/JohnGlennAstronomyPark/?ref=bookmarks
… and an Instagram Page
https://www.instagram.com/jgastropark/
On both we are regularly featuring items of astronomical interest.
If you have questions that you’d like addressed in these feeds, feel free to Facebook Messenger them to us!
“The greatest thing we can do is inspire young minds...”
- John Glenn
