Southeast Regional Library 775 N. Greenfield Road in Gilbert
EVAC Monthly Meeting Speaker Schedule for 2006
January 20th - Noted
author, artist and scientist Dr. William K. Hartmann of the Planetary Science
Institute.
Bill Hartmann's Home Page
February 17th - Ted
Bowell, principal investigator of the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object
Search (LONEOS), will give a talk entitled 'Searching for Near-Earth Asteroids -
Now and in the Future'.
Ted Bowell's Home Page
March 17th - Bill Dellinges will talk about the
telescope industry from 1950 to 1970 using slides of S&T ads from this watershed period to see how how the
amateur telescope market blossomed from a barren state of affairs to a cornucopia of equipment.
Bill has been an amateur astronomer since 1955 (12 years old). He considers himself to be -then and now- a general visual observer. His first scope was Criterion 4" Dynascope Newtonian reflector followed by a Unitron 4" F15 refractor bought in 1970. Then followed a C8, C5, C14, Questar 3.5, Astro-Physics 5" refractor, Astroscan 4", Miyauchi 20x100 binoculars,Televue Ranger, Televue 85, and Coronado PST. In 1993, Bill and his wife moved to Apache Junction, AZ from the San Francisco Bay Area for a change in scenery and darker skies. That was also the year he joined EVAC. In 1995, Bill had a roll-off roof observatory ("Roadrunner Observatory”) built on his property to house the C14. For a number of years, Bill has given stargazing classes at his observatory through the A.J. Parks and Recreation Dept. and taught astronomy and stargazing to Elderhostel groups through Arizona Central College. He still gives a monthly star talk at Lost Dutchman State park as a volunteer and takes occasional private star party sessions at his observatory. His fondest dream is to someday get a GOTO telescope to relieve the pressure on his back.
April 21st
-
Rogier Windhorst of ASU will be speaking on "The James Webb Space Telescope: How will it explore the epochs of First Light,
Re-ionization and Galaxy Assembly?"
Rogier Windhorst's Home Page
May 19th - Dr. Ted Dunham of Lowell Observatory will give a presentation on SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) and HIPO (High-speed Imaging Photometer for Occultations). Dr. Dunham is currently working on an instrument for observing occultations with SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy) and is co-investigator on the Kepler mission, a NASA Discovery class mission designed to detect extrasolar terrestrial planets using transit photometry.
June 16 - EVAC member and noted deep sky enthusiast Tom Polakis will give a presentation entitled "Return of Sky Photography"
July 21 -
ASU astronomer Dr. Paul Scowen will
give a presentation entitled "The Orion MIDEX Star Formation Survey Mission."
The Orion MIDEX mission is a 1.2m UV-visual observatory orbiting at L2 that will
conduct the first-ever high spatial resolution survey of a statistically
significant sample of visible star-forming environments in the Solar
neighborhood in emission lines and continuum. This survey will be used to
characterize the star and planet forming environments within 2.5 kpc of the Sun,
infer global properties and star formation histories in these regions,
understand how environment influences the process of star and planet formation,
and develop a classification scheme for star forming regions. Based on these
findings a similar survey will be conducted of large portions of the Magellanic
Clouds, extending the classification scheme to new types of regions common in
external galaxies, allowing the characterization of low mass star forming
environments in the Magellanic Clouds, study of the spatial distribution of star
forming environments and tracing of star formation history. Finally the mission
will image a sample of external galaxies out to ~5 Mpc. The distribution of star
forming region type will be mapped as a function of galactic environment to
infer the distribution and history of low-mass star formation over galactic
scales, and characterize the stellar content and star formation history of
galaxies.
Paul Scowen's Home Page
August 18 - EVAC
member and astrophotographer Chris Schur will give a presentation entitled "Off
the Beaten Track: Imaging the Unusual, Unphotographable, and Generally Unknown"
Schur's Astrophotography
September 15 - Noted observer Gerry Rattley will talk about observing a solar eclipse.
October 14 - Lowell Observatory astronomer Dr. Wes Lockwood will give a presentation on the "Impact of Solar Activity on the Climate." Dr. Lockwood's major research interests include luminosity of the Sun, stars similar to our Sun, how solar variations affect Earth's weather and climate, and the study of the giant planets. Dr. Lockwood uses photoelectric photometry to measure the brightness of celestial objects with a precision achieved at few other observatories today.
Please note the special date for this meeting, to accommodate the All-Arizona Star Party
November 17 - Dr. Ronald Greeley is a Regents' Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at Arizona State University and Director of the NASA Regional Planetary Image Facility and Interim Director of the ASU School of Earth and Space Exploration. He will give a talk entitled "Exploration of Mars from Orbit." Dr. Greeley has been involved in lunar and planetary studies since 1967. His current research is focused on understanding planetary surface processes and geological histories. The approach involves a combination of spacecraft data analysis, laboratory experiments, and geological field studies on Earth of features analogous to those observed on the planets.
December 15 - Holiday Party at the home of members Jennifer and Tom Polakis, beginning at 7:30 pm. Please bring your family and maybe a side dish or dessert! Details to follow...
Meeting Site Map
Southeast Regional Library
775 N. Greenfield Road in Gilbert
Pre-Meeting Dinner Map
Old Country Buffet 1855 S. Stapley Drive in Mesa
The red block in the center is the restaurant and the red block to the right is the library.
All monthly meetings are held on the third Friday of the month at the Southeast Regional Library in Gilbert, beginning at 7:30 PM unless noted otherwise.
Monthly reminders will continue to be emailed via EVAC NEWS
