The Saline District Library is missing their copy of the book Constellations. That's because when high schooler Jesse Mason checked it out two decades ago, he became so absorbed in the contents that he forgot to return it. Years later when Mason bought his first car, a 1980 Chevy Impala, he began to frequent the rural outskirts of his hometown. Countless nights he would lay on top of the warm hood of his baby blue land yacht, hunting for planets, watching meteor showers, enjoying the occasional Northern light show and marvelling at the magnificent progression of the Hale-Bopp comet. His early interest in the cosmos continued to blossom throughout college as he took several related courses: Introduction to Astronomy, Observational Astronomy, Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Mason continues to nurture his love for the night sky by running the Farmington Community Stargazers, a local astronomy club that hosts monthly star parties for the public (www.fcstargzers.org), giving astronomy presentations to local libraries and elementary schools, assisting astronomy students at Oakland Community College with their astronomical viewings, maintaining and operating several telecopes, (including an 8" Schmidt Cassegrain, several Dobs from 6-16”, two binocular telescopes and a Coronado PST solar telescope). In addition to outreach, Mason has also taught introductory astronomy courses at Schoolcraft College and Henry Ford College.

In 2018 a meteor exploded over the nearby town of Hamburg and Mason’s astronomy club participated in the hunt for meteorites, finding several samples. His participation in the hunt culminated in his inclusion as co-author on a scientific paper on the meteor. (https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.03008)