Warren Astronomical Society News & Views: October 2008

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Dr. Paul Goldsmith Lecture Friday!

Down to the wire... here's Dick:

Dear WAS members,

Dr. Paul Goldsmith, Chief Technologist for the Astronomy and Physics Directorship and Senior Research Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will present a talk on Friday, October 17th at 7:30 pm in the Cranbrook Institute of Science auditorium entitled "The Road to Stardom in the Milky Way".

The Milky Way and other galaxies contain billions of stars and most of the matter we can readily identify is in the form of stars. But where do stars come from and how does star formation take place? Paul Goldsmith, take us on a journey into space to answer these questions and discuss what the most recent research has taught us about how stars and planets form. Dr. Goldsmith also will give us a sneak preview of future space missions that will help us understand more about the mysteries of the universe.

This is a combined presentation between WAS and the Cranbrook Institute of Science and attendance by WAS members is greatly encouraged. It is very important to the future activities of the our Club that as many members as possible and their family and friends attend this presentation.

Pre-registration is required for this event and if you have not already done so you can call Cranbrook at (248) 645-3210 and reserve seats for you and your family and friends. When you register please indicate that you are associated with the Warren Astronomical Society so the Club will get credit for your attendance. The cost for Club members and guests is $8 each and Cranbrook will charge your credit card for the appropriate amount.

Dick

Macomb Meeting, October 16

From Dick Gala:

Dear WAS members,

The October WAS Macomb meeting will be held on Thursday, October 16th at Macomb Community College, Building B at 7:30 pm. The feature presentation will be by Dave Bailey and the title of his talk will be "Bigger Than the Moon."

This will be a non-richly illustrated exposition of where in the Solar System one can see objects "bigger than the Moon" as she appears in Earth's sky, which ones, and in which favorable configurations. Bailey will begin with the usual annoying trick question. He also will touch upon other topics e.g. satellites.

Bailey lives in Oxford far from his east coast genesis. He has served on the Village's charter commission, commuting brutal distances to Warren Society functions with breath-taking devotion. Some say that his mother was a computer and his father was a telescope!

Dick

Monday, October 13, 2008

OktoberWASP

The latest WASP is here, and it's a great one. Check it out!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Eclipse videos from Ken Bertin

Ken has graciously provided his eclipse videos for your enjoyment. Here's the wide-angle recording.

The high magnification version is after the jump.

Cranbrook Meeting, October 6

Jon Blum introduces his own talk tomorrow:

The October 2008 Cranbrook WAS meeting will be held on Monday, October 6, at 7:30 PM at the Cranbrook Institute of Science auditorium. The main speaker will be Jon Blum and the title of his presentation will be Astronomy Gadgets.

Jon loves gadgets of all sorts, and never saw an astronomy gadget that he didn't need. In this talk, you will find out why you can no longer live without blinky lights, metric Allen wrenches, several types of binocular mounts, a hair dryer, seven simultaneous dew heaters, a RACI finderscope, bright yellow eyepiece caps, 2 inches of pipe foam insulation, a Hummer, and a dozen other essentials. A handout paper will be provided, listing where to buy each gadget discussed, from Scopestuff to Home Depot.

Jon has been interested in astronomy since childhood and still has his first cardboard telescope. But he didn't have time for a real telescope and all of these gadgets until he retired at the end of 2001. He has lived his whole life in the Detroit area, attended college and medical school at Wayne State University, and spent his career as a dermatologist in his own office in Farmington Hills. In addition to astronomy, his other hobbies are grandchildren, digital photography, and creating web pages. He also writes about Maui, where he and his wife Rosie live under clear skies during the winter. His past talks to our club have included how he shopped for and selected his current telescope, astronomy in Scandinavia, Astronomers Inn B&B in Arizona, and astronomy on Maui. Future talks he is planning include why he belongs to six astronomy clubs, and another talk about more astronomy gadgets that could not fit into this year's talk.

Jon has a website about Maui, including many photos, at www.mauihawaii.org. His astronomy photos (trips, not astrophotos) are at www.jonrosie.com/astronomy. He learned about astronomy from the many helpful members of the Warren Astronomical Society and other clubs, and would be glad to answer any questions about his astronomy gadgets, or about Maui, at any club meeting or by email. Catch him on the WarrenAstro Yahoo! group.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Great Lakes StarGaze 2008

Jon Blum and several other WAS members attended the GAZE this year. Jon has posted photos at his site. Relive the memories if you were there, or see what you missed!