Whiz Kid: Reaching for the Stars

Welcome to our new feature, Whiz Kids, which will highlight the accomplishments of young people in Huntington. Our initial Whiz Kid is in love with the stars.

Name: Jared Van Houten, age 12

Member of Astronomical Society of Long Island 

Oldfield Middle School/Vanderbilt Planetarium

About Jared: In June of 2010, I presented a 45-minute talk on Deep Sky Objects (DSO), and how to find them, to the Astronomical Society of Long Island. This year I recently completed a project for the Science Fair on the transits of the moons of Jupiter, and will be making another presentation in the next two months at a weekly ASLI meeting on the James Webb Space telescope.

Key to Awesomeness: I love discovering new things about the night sky. When I became interested in astronomy, I was looking at the moon and all of its tectonic features. I had a tiny scope then (compared to my new scope!). When I go observing, a feeling of wonder comes upon me as I take in the night sky. My new 12” diameter telescope and I have seen many wonders. I have observed Jupiter, the moons of Jupiter, Uranus, the Andromeda Galaxy, the Dumbbell Nebula and the Ring Nebula. I also like to look at star clusters like the one in Hercules. I have two telescopes. One is a 4” Celestron. My big one is an Orion SkyQuest XX12” Intelliscope. I enjoy going to the planetarium to watch their new Goto Star Projector. I even help out with a show myself occasionally! I have also given a presentation at an astronomy club! I LOVE astronomy!!!

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Each week, Huntington Patch will seek suggestions from readers for individual  kids, youth groups, teens, and even sports teams that wow us with their accomplishments. This is open for every grade level at every school in the Huntington community. Send us your nominations.