“Adopting Local Law No. -2025, A Local Law to Further Protect Animals from Persons Convicted of an Animal Abuse Crime" is signed into law on May 7.
Legislator Stephanie Bontempi with Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, Chief Roy Gross of the Suffolk
County SPCA, Suffolk County DA Ray Tierney’s BEAST UNIT, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin
Catalina, and legislative colleagues at the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge.
From left, Suffolk County Leg. Stephanie Bontempi, Suffolk County SPCA Chief Roy Gross, and Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine.
Suffolk County Legislator Stephanie Bontempi (R – 18th L.D.) joined Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, the Suffolk County SPCA, Suffolk County DA Ray Tierney’s BEAST Unit, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina, and legislative colleagues to officially sign into law “Adopting Local Law No. -2025, A Local Law to Further Protect Animals from Persons Convicted of an Animal Abuse Crime” on May 7.
This legislation was unanimously passed at the Suffolk County Legislature’s General Meeting on April 8th at the Legislature.
This local law amends the Suffolk County Code to establish a misdemeanor penalty for individuals on the convicted animal abuser registry who are found to be owning animals in violation of Suffolk County Code Sec. 229-28(F).
In 2010, the Suffolk County Legislature enacted legislation to create the animal abuse registry, one of the first of its kind in the United States. Any Suffolk County resident aged 18 or older who is convicted of animal abuse is required to register their name, address, and photo with the registry. The registry is maintained on the Suffolk County Police website. Individuals must remain on the registry for 10 years and are prohibited from owning animals during this period.
The Suffolk County SPCA approached Legislator Bontempi to request this code amendment, highlighting a loophole in the current County code. The code did not impose any penalties on individuals listed on the Animal Abuse Registry, who were found to possess animals in violation of the County code. By passing this local law to strengthen the code, any individual who is required to register and is found to possess an animal in violation of section 229-28(F) will be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor and will face penalties associated with that class of crime.
“I would like to thank Suffolk County SPCA Chief Roy Gross and his entire staff of volunteers for bringing this important issue to our attention, as well as County Executive Ed Romaine, my colleagues at the Legislature, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, and Police Commissioner Catalina for their unwavering support. Together, we are finally able to close this loophole and further protect our animals,” stated Legislator Bontempi. “In Suffolk County, we will not tolerate the abuse or neglect of animals. By closing this loophole, we will ensure that those offenders who disregard the will law face consequences.”
Island Harvest Food Bank, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), and the United States Postal Service (USPS) are once again in a united front for the annual Stamp Out Hunger® food drive, the nation’s most extensive single-day food collection campaign on Saturday, May 10.
At a recent kickoff rally at Island Harvest’s Melville headquarters before a group of postal union workers, corporate sponsors, and food bank staff and supporters, Samantha Morales, founder of Branches Long Island, a Middle Island-based social services organization that helps people in need, relayed a story about a first-time client coming in for food assistance.
“A woman named Maria came in holding a baby in one arm and a grocery list in the other. Her husband had been laid off, and their savings were completely gone. She looked exhausted yet determined and said, ‘I never thought I’d need help like this, but my baby needs to eat.’” Ms. Morales said that because of food donations from efforts like Stamp Out Hunger, Maria wasn’t turned away in her time of need, and she was given fresh produce, canned goods, and formula for her baby. As Maria left, she hugged a volunteer, broke down and said, “You gave me a lifeline today.” In concluding her remarks, Ms. Morales stated, “Every can, every box and every bag collected during this campaign helps real people right here on Long Island.”
According to Randi Shubin Dresner, president & CEO of Island Harvest, the need for food assistance on Long Island has never been greater.
“The need among Long Island families is alarming, making your contribution to Stamp Out Hunger more important than ever,” said Shubin Dresner. She highlights that the organization distributed a record 18.3 million pounds of food last year and is forecasted to distribute 20 million pounds this year.
“With increased costs at the grocery store, coupled with the region’s high cost of living and continued economic uncertainty, more Long Islanders urgently need supplemental food support. We are calling on the responsibility and generosity of all Long Islanders to donate what they can by leaving nonperishable food items in a bag next to your mailbox before the regularly scheduled mail delivery on Saturday, May 10 for your letter carrier to pick up and help ensure it gets onto the tables of our Long Island neighbors in need,” she added.
Nonperishable food includes canned goods, cereal, pasta, rice, boxed juices, and shelf-stable milk (no prepared food or food or juices in glass containers). In addition, personal care items such as toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deodorant, and disposable diapers are gratefully accepted. All donations collected will help replenish Island Harvest’s network of community-based food pantries, soup kitchens and other emergency feeding programs in communities in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
“Every donation, no matter the size, will help countless Long Islanders who may be struggling to put food on their tables — even a can of soup can be a much-needed meal for people who are hungry,” added Ms. Shubin Dresner, “We’ve always been touched by the generosity of Long Islanders to help their neighbors in need, and we are confident that they will once again step up and support this year’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive.”
“The National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 6000 and the United States Postal Service are excited to partner with Island Harvest again this year for your 33rd annual Stamp Out Hunger food collection,” said Tom Siesto, Executive Vice President of NALC Branch 6000. “The members of Branch 6000 and the employees of the United States Postal Service often see firsthand the widespread issue of food insecurity on Long Island and are thrilled to take part in this very important campaign and give back to the local communities they serve.”
Since its inception in 1993, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive, held on the second Saturday in May, has collected approximately 1.9 billion pounds of food for those in need across the United States. Input from food banks and pantries suggested that late spring would be the best time because most food banks start running out of the donations received during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays by that point in the year, according to the NALC.
Last year, generous Long Islanders donated 382,175 pounds of food, supplementing 577,000 meals. Island Harvest hopes to exceed 500,000 pounds of food during this year’s Stamp Out Hunger food collection campaign.
This year’s Stamp Out Hunger collection campaign on Long Island is generously supported by presenting sponsor National Grid (lead sponsor), JPMorganChase, Dime Community Bank, FourLeaf Federal Credit Union, IPRO Healthcare, Leviton, M&T Bank, Nonna’s Garden, Petro Home Services, and Stop & Shop.
Eric Hurnyak and other riders on the North Shore Rail Trail heading to Greenport. Photo by Bill Landon
By Bill Landon
For Eric Hurnyak, the battle with glioblastoma was a personal one when he lost his mom, Barbara Johnson Hurnyak, to this insidious disease in March. The Sound Beach resident wanted to raise awareness by doing what he did when he was his mother’s primary caregiver for the better part of two years: by riding his bike to clear his head.
The May 4 fundraising event started from the Stony Brook Village Center and took the North Shore Rail Trail from Port Jefferson to Wading River, which marked the 20-mile mark with 35 miles to go until Greenport.
“My mother wanted to find a clinical trial or advanced research program, but her case was so far advanced there weren’t a lot of options,” Hurnyak said. “So, after two years it’s hard to give up the fight. So raising money to further the research into this dreaded disease is what I’ve turned to, as we’ve passed the six-thousand-dollar mark as of yesterday morning.”
The balance of the ride included stops at On the Docks in Aquebogue and the Love Lane Kitchen in Mattituck before finishing at Andy’s restaurant on Front Street in Greenport.
Proceeds benefit the Glioblastoma Research Organization, For more information visit https://www.gbmresearch.org/.
Eva Casale during the 7-day marathon challenge. Photo courtesy Alyssa Nightingale
Eva Casale kneeling in honor by the grave of veteran Robert Christopher Pope. Photo courtesy Alyssa Nightingale
Eva Cassale runs past the Huntington Veterans Plaza with other members of her team. Photo courtesy Alyssa Nightingale
By Dylan Friedman
Continuing a remarkable tradition, ultra-runner Eva Casale this past week (April 27 – May 3) traversed Long Island for the ninth time in as many years, completing her seven-marathon-in-seven-days challenge – an enduring tribute to the legacy of America’s veterans.
“I started running local veteran races, and during those races, I met Gold Star families,” Casale explained. “I wanted to see if there’s a way we could continue to remember them.” Gold Star families are those who have lost loved ones during active military service.
What began as a personal mission has evolved into nine annual Every Veteran Appreciated (EVA) Weeks and counting, challenging physical limits and serving as a moving educational platform.
Each day, the marathon is strategically dedicated to different fallen heroes, with over 20 Points of Honor. Casale and other participants pause at certain businesses and military memorials to learn about specific veterans and their sacrifices.
“Each time I read those plaques, it really reminds me that I am here because of them,” Casale said. “I am able to run these streets and have freedom because of them. That gives me strength when I’m tired.”
Another critical component of the week involves engaging younger generations. Casale aims to create meaningful connections to veterans’ experiences by inviting high school students to participate. Patchogue-Medford High School and Copiague students ran in this year’s event, while learning about military memorials and placing roses at significant locations throughout the journey.
“We took [the students] to a memorial as part of the 5k run that we do at the end of the day,” Casale explained. “After I put down my first rose, I would share with some of the other students, [and] they would do the same thing. They were actually understanding why it was there and why it was important.”
Casale’s personal connection to the military is rooted in her father’s experience of serving in the Korean War. “He never spoke about it much, if at all,” Casale recalled. “But I think there is a certain generation that does not speak about it, but they still need to be thanked for their service, so that is what I am trying to teach,” Casale continued.
For Casale, whose athletic background already encompassed feats of extreme endurance, the demanding seven-day marathon format emerged as a fitting and impactful way to amplify her message.
With a background in ultra-running —having completed 50- and 100-mile events — the seven-day marathon format was a natural choice. “I did this seven-day format once before [doing this event annually],” Casale said. “I chose this format because it brings more and more awareness over an extended period.”
Maintaining physical readiness for such a grueling challenge requires careful recovery strategies. Each night, Casale used compression boots for several hours, a ritual she credits with making “the world of difference” in her ability to continue running day after day.
When asked about the event’s future, Casale maintains that she will continue doing it as long as possible.
“I mean, every year I have been asked the same question, right?” Casale said. “I would say as long as I can, my team is really excited, because next year is the 10th year. So we will do the same format, we are excited, and then we will see from there. At this point, my answer is always, as long as I am able to do it, and as a way to thank our veterans, we will continue with our mission.”
As the event approaches its milestone next year, it is a powerful testament to the enduring spirit of gratitude and remembrance. Through seven marathons, countless stories are shared, and a commitment to honoring those who have served, Casale continues to transform athletic achievement into a profound act of remembrance.
“We want people to recognize that gentleman sitting in the diner wearing the Korean War hat and say, Thank you, thank you for your service,” Casale said. “We want people to thank the woman across the street who served in the Army or the Navy. We want them to say, thank you for your service. That is where part of our mission is. We know we have that opportunity to remind people to do that.”
As the former chairman of the Huntington Town Zoning Board of Appeals, I worked tirelessly to balance the interests of residents, landowners and prospective applicants.
New York State Zoning Law requires that neighbors and other residents’ interests be represented in hearing applicant requests. The burden of consideration by the applicant, under the law, covers at least five explicit considerations for area variances requests: an undesirable change, feasible alternatives, substantiality, adverse effects and self-created hardship. As a board we emphasized careful review of potential undesirable changes to neighborhoods, always lending a sensitive ear to the neighbors.
You may have met me at your door during some of these applications, as I would often take the time to walk a neighborhood impacted and speak to residents instead of putting the burden on them to show up at a ZBA meeting.
Residents shouldn’t have to leave their house during a cold winter night, wait hours to speak at a public hearing to fight to defend their zoning and quality of life every time a development application comes up. That is a strict responsibility of the board; residents should not be on the defensive.
Our Town Board and the individuals they appoint have a duty and responsibility to represent us, not simply facilitate development.
The need for the Zoning Board and Planning Board’s independence in this Town is paramount if we are to restore trust in the Town’s zoning process.
Land-use rules and laws protect our most precious investment, our homes. Good zoning and land-use guidance is the most important responsibility of Town government, it is what knits our communities and neighborhoods together. Applications for exemptions from prevailing laws deserve careful review, but that review should never be at the disadvantage of neighbors and residents.
Now, more than ever, we need this balanced common sense approach.
John Posilico
Former Chairman of the Huntington Town Zoning Board of Appeals
Questioning ‘Elder Parole’ for cop killers
It’s common for politicians to send out “constituent surveys.”Ostensibly, the goal is to get feedback from local voters on specific issues. But it would be a rare survey indeed, that did not frame certain questions in ways aimed at getting politically desired responses.
Newly elected Assembly member Rebecca Kassay pretty much followed that template with her May mailer.
A couple of seemingly “feel good” proposals were the Second Look Act, and Elder Parole. Maybe state polls are looking to save some dollars on a staggering state budget that’s twice the size of Florida and Texas combined?Money aside, the goal is to give judges and parole boards the power to reconsider early release for “elderly individuals” so long as the felons have “demonstrated growth and rehabilitation.”
Here are two important unknowns. What would be the specific criteria for the above mentioned, and how it might be applied to those who’ve murdered law enforcement officers?This is especially critical because the PBA has cited 43 cop killers released by our NYS Parole Board in just the last 8 years,
As of this writing,waiting on the sidelines to possibly become lucky number 44, is David McClary. On Feb. 26, 1988, he snuck up behind rookie NYPD Officer Edward Byrne, and shot him five times in the head.The 22-year-old was guarding a witness waiting to testify against a notorious drug lord.
Edward’s brother Ken spoke to ABC News.“Referencing the murder he said, “’It was a horrible scene, we were in shock. It was just beyond devastation.…’ “This is always a difficult process because every two years with the parole board we have to reive everything.” It’s that family’s eighth time.
Who has had the most sway in picking and managing the group tasked with deciding which felons will be freed?That would be former governor Andrew Cuomo, and his Democrat heir, Kathy Hochul (D). This board is a direct reflection of their views on policing and made up of a majority of fellow Dems.
One of the members would be Tana Agostini, who was appointed by Cuomo in 2017. She married convicted killer Thomas O’Sullivan while he was still in prison. Tana used her influence as a staffer of the state Assembly committee overseeing prisons in 2013 to advocate for the parole of O’Sullivan. His stint in prison included an escape and biting off part of an inmate’s nose. It’s hard to see much “growth and rehabilitation” there.
Imagine the unrelenting heartache, revisited every 24 months by long “suffering NYPD families, who are sitting in front of an NYS Parole Board that has released an average of five cop killers yearly since 2017.We can bet these kinds of “feel good” proposals feel anything but good to them.Let’s remember and help protect slain, heroic police officers and their grieving loved ones,
Craft Fair at The Shoppes at East Wind May 4. Photo by Bill Landon
Craft Fair at The Shoppes at East Wind May 4. Photo by Bill Landon
Craft Fair at The Shoppes at East Wind May 4. Photo by Bill Landon
Craft Fair at The Shoppes at East Wind May 4. Photo by Bill Landon
Craft Fair at The Shoppes at East Wind May 4. Photo by Bill Landon
Craft Fair at The Shoppes at East Wind May 4. Photo by Bill Landon
Craft Fair at The Shoppes at East Wind May 4. Photo by Bill Landon
By Bill Landon
The craft fair at The Shoppes at East Wind in Wading River was in full swing Sunday, May 4 where local craft vendors flocked to showcase their wares. The day featured a bounce house for the kids and the ever-popular carousel, a family favorite that was met with warmer temperatures.
Craft Fair Weekends continue at The Shoppes at East Wind on June 7 & 8, July 12 & 13, August 2 & 3 and September 6 & 7, October 4 & 5, and November 1 & 2 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
I’ve never written a letter like this before. Truth be told, I’ve never written a letter of any kind.
But I understand you live far away and that you dispense valuable advice that I could use in my everyday life with the guy and his family.
The guy spends most of his days sitting at this thing typing, so I guess I can do it for an hour or so, which, you know, is more like seven hours for him.
I was thinking of asking you about that rumbling noise that scares me so much when it gets incredibly dark out and when the ground gets wet. Those sounds make me want to find cover somewhere, but no matter where I go, I can still hear it and feel the terrible vibrations. It’s like if a pack of, you know, us were running around the neighborhood, growling so loudly outside the door that we caused the floor to vibrate a second or two after a flash of light.
No, no, I’ll save the questions about those noises for some other letter. This one is about the delicate social business of interacting in the neighborhood.
You see, my guy varies in his social energy and interests. Some days, he speaks with everyone we run into and bends down to pet other dogs.
That doesn’t bother me, the way it did with Fifi last week, when she complained that her owner pets other dogs more readily and happily than she pets Fifi. I’m fine if my guy wants to scratch other dogs behind their ears or rubs their back. Frankly, there are times when I think he needs a hobby to get out all of his scratching, squeezing and high-pitched voice energy that he reserves for me and, once in a while, for small people when they come to the house.
Other times, he barely waves or acknowledges people and their pets. He’s either staring into his phone and talking to himself or he’s making lists out loud and telling himself what he needs to do that day.
When he does stop to chat with neighbors and their companions, he often talks about me while the other human talks about their dog. I’m kind of tired of hearing about how I don’t like to swim, how I’m not that high energy and I don’t fetch.
Everyone doesn’t have to fetch or swim, right? But, then, he also talks about how sensitive I am and how supportive I am whenever anyone is feeling sad in the house. Hey, we all have our strengths, right?
When he’s chatting, sometimes about me and sometimes about the weather, I’m not always sure how long the pause in our walk will go.
I sometimes sit or lay down near him, while other dogs jump or sniff around me. Other times, I’m so happy to see one of my neighbors that she and I try to tie the two leashes into a knot in the shape of a heart. My guy and the neighbor never see it, but it’s so obvious to us.
Every so often, I meet someone intriguing and, you know how it is, right? I have to sniff them, the way they have to sniff me. The question is, how long can I sniff their butts before it becomes socially awkward, either for them or for the humans?
I mean, I can tell when my guy is in an intense conversation about something, when his voice drops or shakes and I want to help him. At the same time, I have this need to sniff.
Clearly, sniffing butts at the wrong time or for too long can become a problem for the guy and the other person.
If we do it too long, their conversation ends and he walks away, muttering and puling on me until we get inside.
So, what’s the ideal, allowable butt sniffing time? And remember that none of us is getting any younger, so, you know, if you could write back soon, it’d help. You can’t see me, but I’m looking up at you with my big brown eyes and wagging my tail. That usually works with the guy.
Tuesday was National Teacher Appreciation Day, which reminded me of Miss Rigney, who changed my life.
Miss Rigney was my sixth grade teacher in the perfectly ordinary elementary school I attended. Housed in a cement building, in the midst of a residential area, it served the neighborhood according to the rules for education in mid-century New York City, with two classrooms and two teachers for each grade. I was assigned to 6A. Next door was 6B.
Soon after entering sixth grade, we became aware of the goal for the coming year. We needed to pass the Hunter Test for the honor of the school and our own benefit.
The Hunter Test, we discovered, was a one day affair that, if successfully navigated, would win us admission to Hunter College High School where classes started with seventh grade and ended with graduation from high school. Open to students from each sixth grade in all five boroughs, a handful of us would be eligible, after scoring well on a standardized test in fifth grade, to travel to the school on the appointed day to take the test.
I liked the sound of that because it was the closest junior high school to where I lived. I sympathized with those students who would have to ride from Brooklyn, Queens and even Staten Island.
There were several special schools throughout the city whose admission was via a challenging test: Stuyvesant, Bronx High School of Science and Brooklyn Tech were three. They were also public schools and were run by the Board of Education with the idea of giving some students a head start.
But Hunter was different. It was initially started in 1869 as a model school in which to train teachers who were matriculating in Hunter College and was administrated by the Board of Higher Education. Its 1200 students in six grades “represent the top one-quarter of one percent of the City” based on the test scores, according to the school. It was composed of all girls for its first 105 years. The student-teacher ratio was 13:1, and its faculty for the most part had advanced degrees.
“Aim of the entire course through which the Normal students pass is not so much to burden the mind with facts as it is to develop intellectual power, cultivate judgment, and enable the graduates to take trained ability into the world with them,” wrote Harper’s Magazine in 1878.
Now we kids didn’t know any of this. I just wanted the shortest commute, and it was impressed on us that Hunter was a good place to be. So we prepared for the test, which was months away, with the coaching of our teachers, four girls from 6B and two from 6A.
Only Miss Rigney, a trim, freckle-faced redhead with a gentle manner, who seemed old to me, but was maybe 28, stayed after school twice a week and drilled Carol and me with a workbook. When we didn’t do the homework she then gave us, both arithmetic and English, she was uncharacteristically stern with us. It was clear that this was a challenge she wanted us to surmount.
On the day the results of the Test were sent to the school, the principal called the six of us down to her office, along with the teachers, and with a great deal of excitement, opened the envelope and read the results out loud. Carol and I had been admitted; no one had from the other class.
There was screaming and moaning. Miss Rigney smiled, quietly congratulated the two of us and returned to her classroom. I was happy because I thought I should be. I knew my parents would be pleased, but I had no understanding of what had just happened.
I had no idea that my life would be unalterably changed — that I would be attending what was thought to be one of the finest high school in the country, ranked number one by The Wall Street Journal, one of only 225 pupils, with some of the most accomplished teachers for whom teaching was an art, that I would mingle with far more sophisticated students, and because of them, freely explore the City.
I had a remarkable high school education. When I landed in college, I was immediately offered second year standing because of my AP classes. Miss Rigney knew.
The signs were already there with empty shelves that were never restocked but now it’s official. Rite Aid Pharmacy announced on May 5 that the business will be selling or closing all of its locations in the next few months, including 178 in New York, as it files for Chapter 11 proceedings for the second time in less than two years. The company currently operates 1,245 stores in 15 states, according to its website.
During this process, Rite Aid customers can continue to access pharmacy services and products in stores and online, including prescriptions and immunizations. In connection with the sale process and court-supervised proceedings, the Company is working to facilitate a smooth transfer of customer prescriptions to other pharmacies, according to the press release.
“For more than 60 years, Rite Aid has been a proud provider of pharmacy services and products to our loyal customers. While we have continued to face financial challenges, intensified by the rapidly evolving retail and healthcare landscapes in which we operate, we are encouraged by meaningful interest from a number of potential national and regional strategic acquirors. As we move forward, our key priorities are ensuring uninterrupted pharmacy services for our customers and preserving jobs for as many associates as possible,” said Matt Schroeder, Chief Executive Officer of Rite Aid.
“I will be forever grateful to our thousands of associates for their commitment to Rite Aid and its mission, and I thank our entire team – from store associates to corporate employees – for their dedication to our customers and our company. With their support, we have played a critical role in supporting the healthcare needs of countless Americans across the communities that we are honored to serve,” Schroeder added.
Following the announcement, Rite Aid posted on its website that starting May 6 Rite Aid Rewards points will no longer be issued for qualifying purchases. All accrued points and BonusCash will expire per standard terms & conditions available at riteaid.com/rewards/terms-and-conditions.
The website also said that Rite Aid would no longer honor Rite Aid gift cards or accept any returns or exchanges beginning June 5.
To support Rite Aid during its sale process, which it intends to conduct under section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, the Company has secured commitments from certain of its existing lenders to access $1.94 billion in new financing. This financing, along with cash from operations, is expected to provide sufficient funding during the sale and court-supervised process. The Company intends to divest or monetize any assets that are not sold through the court-supervised process. Rite Aid has filed a number of customary motions with the Court seeking authorization to support operations, including continued payment of employee wages and benefits, according to the release.
Currently there are 12 Rite Aids in Suffolk County, including Eastport, Hampton Bays, Huntington, Kings Park, Lindenhurst, Middle Island, Mount Sinai, North Babylon, Selden, Shirley, Southampton, and West Islip. Stores will begin to close or be sold within the next few months.
For a full list of New York Rite Aid locations, click here.
The far side of the moon, however, can act like enormous noise cancellation headphones, serving as a barrier to the kinds of signals from sources including Earth’s ionosphere, which carries electromagnetic noises from lightning, solar flares, radio signals, among others to look or, perhaps more appropriately, listen deep into the past.
On Wednesday, May 7, at Napper Tandy’s in Smithtown, three Brookhaven National Laboratory scientists will speak with the public about an unnamed mission expected to take off next year. The free event is part of BNL’s PubSci science café series (www.bnl.gov/pubsci/).
Paul O’Connor. Photo by Roger Stoutenburgh/ BNL
Senior Scientist Paul O’Connor, Mechanical Engineer Connie-Rose Deane and Physicist Anže Slosar will discuss a project called LuSEE-Night, which, like so many other efforts at BNL, is an acronym. LuSEE stands for Lunar Surface Electromagnetic Experiment-Night.
The Department of Energy project manager is Sven Hermann at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Slosar is the science lead, while O’Connor coordinated technical and systems aspects of the instrument development.
The scientists collaborated with researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Energy and included scientists at the University of Minnesota and at the University of California, Berkeley.
The Space Science Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley is leading the project. BNL is a collaborating member responsible for delivering hardware components of the payload.
LuSEE-Night, which is a radio telescope, is designed to gather information about the Dark Ages of the universe. This time period, from about 380,000 to 400 million years ago after the Big Bang, occurred before the first luminous stars and galaxies.
Connie-Rose Deane. Photo by David Rahner/ BNL
As the only signals measurable from the Dark Ages, radio waves, recorded through LuSEE-Night provide a chance to learn how the first non-luminous matter evolved into stars and galaxies.
Over the last several years, scientists at the Department of Energy and NASA have shared their excitement about seeing something they had never seen before.
David Rapetti, Senior Researcher with Universities Space Research Association (USRA) at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, suggested the instrument was a “trailblazer for subsequent potential single telescope experiments for the global signal, also including the Cosmic Down signal at a somewhat higher frequency range.”
Rapetti, who has been with the project since its inception, suggested that this instrument could help with plenty of other science.
“In addition to studies of the sun, planets and exoplanets, the roadmap ahead for low frequency observations from the lunar surface represents a crucial resource to further our understanding of the evolution, content and first luminous objects of the early Universe,” Rapetti explained.
A potential measurement of the global Dark Ages signal could in principle reveal “undiscovered new physics or indeed further validate the current standard model of cosmology,” Rapetti added.
Challenging conditions
When looking for a landing site, the team searched for a flat, level surface that was free of large rocks and craters and that had an unobstructed view of the sky in all directions.
Anže Slosar. Photo by Roger Stoutenburgh/ BNL
They chose the Schrodinger Basin, which is about 250 miles south of the lunar equator at a point “almost exactly opposite the Earth-facing direction,” O’Connor explained. This will keep the telescope as “free as possible from electromagnetic interference from Earth,” he added.
Sending the telescope to the far side of the moon created particular challenges. For starters, the telescope had to endure the forces experienced during launch and landing. Once it was on the moon, it had to tolerate the harsh temperature that could drop as low as minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit, and radiation environment, while staying within the mass and power budgets. The instrument mass is less than 282 pounds.
While the landing site is ideal for minimizing electromagnetic noise, it’s difficult to send the information back to Earth with the moon blocking the communication.
Indeed, the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, which was led by Commander James Lovell and that orbited the moon without landing, was out of communication for about 25 minutes while it was on the far side of the moon.
To gather data from the telescope, the group is sending a satellite that will orbit the moon, enabling communication that has a 1.3 second time delay in each direction as the signal travels to the moon.
The signal processing chain required a state-of-the-art digital chip that could crunch the data as it comes through small antennas and produces a reduced data set small enough to send back to Earth, explained O’Connor, who worked with a core BNL team of six senior scientists and engineers and about a dozen other engineers, technicians and project staff on a final design that took about 16 months to complete
Additionally, the telescope will only generate solar energy during 14 Earth days a month. During another 14 days, the instrument needs to run without recharging its battery.
To protect the telescope against the harsh, cold environment of the moon, the scientists are wrapping the instrument in many layers of an insulating blanket. The heat from its operation should provide enough energy to prevent damage from the cold.
When the radio telescope launches, the four antennas are coiled into a compact spool the size of a soda can. After landing, the latch is released, allowing the antenna to deploy into self-supporting booms three meters long using their own spring force. At this point, several research and development missions are underway to learn more about the moon in preparation for the Artemis 3 manned mission currently planned for the middle of 2027.
LSST/ Rubin Observatory
O’Connor has also been involved for over two decades with the development of a project called the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope that is now called the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Cerro Pachón, Chile.
Rubin was an astronomer who provided the first evidence of the existence of dark matter.
The much anticipated activation of this observatory, which will allow researchers to look into billions of galaxies, asteroids and even dark matter, will start producing data in July.
O’Connor, who helped with the film part of the observatory’s camera, suggested that the BNL science team is “most interested in what LSST/ Rubin will tell us about the nature of dark energy and dark matter. This will come from analyzing the camera’s images which, paradoxically, reveal the location of dark matter as it ‘bends’ the light traveling towards us from distant regions in the universe.”
More information about the event on May 7 can be found here.
At a recent kickoff rally at Island Harvest’s Melville headquarters before a group of postal union workers, corporate sponsors, and food bank staff and supporters, Samantha Morales, founder of Branches Long Island, a Middle Island-based social services organization that helps people in need, relayed a story about a first-time client coming in for food assistance.
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