I joined a group of about 75 people at the UMass Sunwheel at 7:30 this evening to hear Professor Judith Young of the Astronomy Department talk about what the summer solstice means and to experience the sun setting behind the solstice standing stone. We were fortunate that the unsettled weather during the day morphed into a beautiful, calm summer evening.

A sunwheel is basically a calendar based on astronomical observations of the moon and stars, the most famous example of which is Stonehenge, a prehistoric site on the Salisbury plain in England. Dr. Young conceived of the project in order to

bring a greater awareness and understanding of astronomy to the University community, school children, and the general public, thereby enhancing science literacy, encouraging curiosity, and improving the quality and enjoyment of life.

The UMass Sunwheel consists of 16 standing stones together weighing over 50 tons, which were transported from the Chester Granite Quarry in East Otis and placed on site in November 2000. Four stones mark the sunrise and sunset directions for the summer and winter solstices, four mark the cardinal directions, and four are moonstones marking the extremes of moonrise and moonset. These standing stones are placed on the circumference of a circle that has a diameter of 65 feet. It’s located south of Alumni Stadium in an open field off Rocky Hill Road.

Dr. Young told us that there are six important points to note about the summer solstice. I’m hoping I remembered them all. At the summer solstice:

• the day is the longest
• the night is the shortest
• the sun rises at the most northerly point
• the sun sets at the most northerly point
• the sun reaches its highest point in the sky
• at latitude 23.5 degrees N, the noonday sun casts no shadow

There are photos of the Sunwheel and of the solstice gatherings on the project site. I brought my camera with me, but as soon as I turned it on, the “No battery” message flashed. What’s up with that?! I’ve only owned the camera for 2 weeks! I guess I’ve been snap-happy and also wasn’t familiar enough with the flashing icons to realize it was telling me to recharge the battery.