~ Meetings ~

The Rittenhouse Astronomical Society meets the second Wednesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the
 
Fels Planetarium
The Franklin Institute
222 North 20th Street,
Philadelphia PA 19103

  Enter the Institute on 20th street through the Business Entrance that is to the right of the main entrance stairs. This meeting is open to Rittenhouse Society Members and Franklin Institute members.   Guests, and Family are welcome to attend along with the general public, students included.

 

 

Meeting Schedule 2007 / 2008

DATE Astronomy
LESSON
Feature
TOPIC
SPEAKER

September 26,
2007
In the Beginning
A graphic representation of the Big Bang

Special Event Kick-off!
Attend and be sure to see some amazing sights from Astronomy Picture of the Day
 

Robert Nemiroff
Creator, Lead Writer and Editor of
Astronomy Picture of the Day
October 10,
200
7
New Student Website
Downloading and Using Stellarium / Accessing our Rittenhouse News feed

Celebrate World
Space Week
  Launching Dawn (and Phoenix):
From behind the scenes at Kennedy Space Center Press Site
 
Dr. Ken Kremer
NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
November 14,
2007
All Presentations tonight can  be considered as astronomy lessons.
 

Members Night Presentations:
1- Sky Tonight
2- Google, Dark Skies
3- Student Website- Resources
4-Astronomy software for your PC
5- Eye on the Sky        
6- Sputnik
7- Titan's Lakes
8-Attending a Planetarium Conference (Best kept Secret!)
 

Rittenhouse Members
1- Alan Daroff
2- Mike Mountjoy
3-Dan McCormick
4-Ruth List
5-Dan Benedict
6- Dave Walker
7- Ken Kremer
8-Ted Williams
December 12,
2007
Solar Neighborhood
What is it? What does it encompass?
Planets, Planets Everywhere
But only Eight for us

Dr. Karen Vanlandingham
West Chester University Planetarium
 
January 9,
2008
The Planets
Mythology and Science 

Family Night
Celebrate the Solar System through the Eyes of a Musician!

Gustav Holst ~ The Planets
 
Ed McCafferty
Methacton School Dist.
Lori Weidner
Neshaminy School Dist.

February 20, 2008
 
Roof-Top Viewing / Observatory Viewing
LUNAR ECLIPSE
 Presentation:
Lunar, Solar, and Martian Eclipses
Dr. Ken Kremer

Rittenhouse Society Members:
Derrick Pitts-Observatory
Carol Ludolph-
Observatory
Ted Williams- Rooftop Laser Star Orientation
Dave Walker-Rooftop Telescopes/Observatory
 

March 12,
2008
Saturn
Finding it in the Night Sky
What to Look for, what can you observe?
Postcards from Saturn Dr. Ann Schmiedekamp
Penn State Abington
NASA Solar System Ambassador
April 9,
2008
Rittenhouse Astronomical
Society
A little bit about us
Celebrating William Hershel
Special Musical-Multi-Media  Event
Special Guests:
CHESTNUT HILL ORCHESTRA

 

Martin Knoblauch
Rittenhouse
Member-at- Large
May 14,
2008
Sky Tonight Report from the
 Lynch Observatory
John Parejko
Drexel Observatory Representative
 
June 11,
2008
The Challange:
Operating the Observatory,
Project report on the Development of a Computer based tutorial.
The Solution:
Presentation of the observatory training program.
Members Night
Philadelphia University Graduate Students Software Presentation
 

If you know of an interesting guest speaker, have an idea or suggestion for a future meeting, we still have an open agenda.  Contact Alan Daroff or  Ted Williams.


Read about our recent history > PAST MEETING NOTES

 

 Past Meeting Schedule 2006 / 2007

DATE Astronomy
LESSON
Feature
TOPIC
SPEAKER
September 13,
200
6
~Start in October
Members Night Presentations:
1- Sky Tonight
2- Astronomy Courses
3- Space Command
4- Stonehenge and Beyond
5- Spinning
 

Society Members:
1- Alan Daroff
2- Ruth List
3- Mike Mountjoy
4- Peg Labosh
5- Ted Williams
October 11,
200
6
Circumpolar Stars
How to locate them
Why they appear circumpolar?
Refurbishing the Bloom Observatory Derrick Pitts
Franklin Institute
&
Chris Ray
Antique Telescope Society
November 8,
2006

The Ecliptic Plane
Zodiac Constellations
Transit, Eclipse, Occultation
What's the difference?

Mercury Transit: Afternoon thru Sunset- Rooftop Observatory.
Purchasing a telescope?

Early enough to shop or have delivered for the Holidays.
 
Society Members:
Alan Daroff
Ted Williams
Dave Walker
December 13,
2006
Celestial Motions
Daily, Annual, Planetary,
Precession, Proper
Earth to the Moon and Back
in 2.6 Seconds

&
Tic Toc Tic Toc David
Rittenhouse
Alan Daroff
Rittenhouse Astronomical Society V.P.
January 10,
2007

Constellations
 marking the Galactic Plane
 
From Earth to the Moon(s)
Exobiology
Dr. Chris Sommer
Bucks ~ Mont. Astronomical Society
March 14,
2007
Web Project
Categorize the Universe
The Universe in 3-D Dr. Albert Lamperti
3-D Anaglyph
April 11,
2007
An Inconvenient Truth
Recent Findings offer More Support
Mars, Saturn, Comets and Beyond in 3-D Dr. Ken Kremer
NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador

May 9,
2007

IN STEARNS AUDITORIUM
God, Astronomy and the Search for Elegance
 
Brother Guy Consolmagno
Vatican Astronomer
Curator of Vatican Meteorite Collection
June 13,
2007

IN MUSSER HALL
Operating a Planisphere
We will supply you with a  planisphere and teach how to use it.
 

IN MUSSER HALL
Inspired by the Worlds Leading Telescopes

 


Louis Berman
ScopeSeeing
Delaware Valley Amateur Astronomers

 

PAST Meeting Schedule 2005 / 2006

DATE TOPIC SPEAKER
September 14
2005
Members Night Club Members Present
October 19
2005
What's New in the Cosmos? Keith Johnson: 
 Rowan University
November 9
2005
Deep Space Tour /
 Hubble Highlights
Denise Vacca
 
Stars on the Move
December 14
2005
Project MoonWatch Ted Kominsky
Starlight Astronomy Association
January 11
2006
Exploring Mars and the
Search for Life
Dr. Ken Kremer
NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
February 8
2006
New Eyes on the Universe Dr. Kim Weaver
NASA Scientist
March 8
2006
Spring Galaxies Karl Krasley:
Chesmont Ast Society
April 19
2006
Volcanoes of the Deep Sea Dr. Peter Rona
Award Winning Rutgers University Professor

May 31
2006
Book Signing after Lecture

Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos Dr. Joel Primack &
Nancy Ellen Abrams

University of California, Santa Cruz
June 16
2006
Field Trip to:
Mallon Planetarium
Methacton School District
Light Years from Andromeda
 
Night Sky Presentation:
Ted Williams
Telescope Observation afterwards

 

 

~ Previous Meeting Notes ~

 
Meeting Night  5/14/08
   John Parejko from the Lynch Observatory (Drexel University) will be our guest presenter.
Meeting Night  4/9/08

The Harmonious Life of William Hershel
Special Musical-Multi-Media Presentation
 

Our next meeting April 9:   English Astronomer William Herschel is well known for his discovery of the planet Uranus and his advances in the construction of large telescopes.  His life as a musician and composer is often forgotten. The Rittenhouse Astronomical Society, conductor Martin Knoblauch and the Chestnut Hill Orchestra intend to remind us of his contributions in both fields when they present a program entitled   The Harmonious Life of William Herschel on Wednesday evening April 9th 2008 at the Franklin Institute.

 
Meeting Night  3/12/08 

 Postcards From Saturn
Dr. Anne Schmiedekamp
NASA Solar System Ambassador

 

The brilliant B ring ends abruptly at the Huygens Gap -- the broad, dark band devoid of ring material seen here near left. This gap marks the inner edge of the Cassini Division, within which the five dim bands at left reside.

Postcards from Saturn:
Presentation: Dr. Schmiedekamp

 

This view takes in the outer third of Saturn's C ring -- from the Maxwell Gap, at center left, to the C-ring edge at lower right.

Dr. A. Schmiedekamp was a guide for our tour of what is undeniably one of the most fascinating planets in our solar system.  "Postcards From Saturn" Left us all wishing we were there, and with Dr. Schmiedekamp as our guide, we felt as if we were !  From the possible rings of Rhea to observing a moon diving through the ring plane leaving a beautiful wake of ring material was breathtaking.


NASA Solar
    System Ambassador/
Penn State University
     Abington

 

Meeting Night 2/20/08

 Lunar, Solar, and Martian Eclipses
Presentation: Dr. Ken Kremer

NASA / Solar system Ambassador Program

Lunar Eclipse Night review! Missed the event at the Franklin?    View a  Power Point presentation of eclipse night.  (Note: To advance slides, scroll down with menu bar.)  Much thanks to Dave Walker!  A few more pictures for your review..

Meeting Night 1/9/08

Family night!
January 9th 2008--
The Planets
Gustav Holst

The Science
 The Mythology,
The Music

PowerPoint Preview
By Ed McCaffrey: Methcton School District

Gustav Holst was a British composer who was born in Cheltenham England in 1874 and died in London in 1934. One of the last great pieces of music he composed “The Planets” is an overture to the Planetary Celestial Spheres of our Solar System. Before the time of Space probes, Holst composed 7 musical suites each founded in the mythical characteristics and physical appearances provided by telescopes of the visible planets of his age. Now that Pluto has been re-classified and is no longer considered a planet, the music of Holst can once again represent the solar system of today.w

 

Student Presentation
An overview of the Planets visible in our sky.  Learn the basic structure of the solar system, and what you can expect to see of it in a telescope.

Guest Speakers
Ed McCafferty (Methacton School District) and Lori Weidner (Neshaminy School District), explore with us the musical characteristics and technique that was used to convey the mythology in the suite by Holst: The Planets.
 

Meeting Night 12/12/07

Dr. Karen Vanlandingham
Planets, Planets Everywhere...But only Eight for Us

  
NASA artist imagines a Neptune-sized extrasolar (left) planet circling the red dwarf star Gliese 436. Here, the planet appears gaseous like Jupiter, with a cloudy atmosphere. However, astronomers don't know yet if the newly discovered smaller planets are gaseous like Jupiter, or rocky like Earth and Mars. 
Right: NASA artists imagines other planetary ring systems.


      My very educated mother just served us nine... what?  Pizzas?  Pickles?  Apparently good 'ol mom is going to have to come up with a new menu because Pluto is no longer on the list of planets in our solar system.  If Pluto's out then who's in?      What makes a planet a planet anyway?  And while the number of planets in our solar system is shrinking, the number of planets elsewhere in the galaxy is ever increasing!  To date, astronomers have found over 200 planets orbiting other stars in our galaxy (extrasolar planets).  How do astronomers find these planets?  What are they like?  Are there other "earths" out there?  Do they support life and, if so, have their inhabitants found a better operating system than Windows Vista?  Come and find out the answers to (most of) these questions as we explore solar systems - ours and beyond.

     Dr. Vanlandingham is the current planetarium director at West Chester University Planetarium.  The planetarium is used daily for all astronomy classes and labs and is a central component of the department's outreach activities.  Dr. Vanlandingham has an extensive background in binary star systems.  For her presentation tonight, she will focus on Exoplanets.  We welcome Dr. Vanlandingham and encourage members to check out the West Chester University Planetarium web site.


 

Meeting Night 11/15/07

A special thanks to all our members who stepped forward last night to share a little of their interests, hobbies and passion with our society.  Visitors can definitely see the enthusiasm with which society members embrace astronomy.  Whether it is astronomy computer software, locating dark-sky observing sights, viewing comets, news breaking images from the moons of Saturn, our society members had it covered.  We should consider doing it again during this academic year!   (11/15/07)

 

Meeting Night 10/10/07
 

Dr. Ken Kremer  JPL/NASA Solar System Ambassador

Marco Di Lorenzo, Ken Kremer, NASA/JPL/Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine


Dr. Kremer last guided us across the 3-D surface of Mars.  Now he returns from behind the scenes at Kennedy Space Center to report on the Dawn Mission (and Phoenix) .  Join us as we welcome all at the Franklin Institute Celebrating World Space Week 2007 for our open public meeting OCTOBER 10, 2007.



 

Meeting Night 9/26/07

Robert Nemiroff
(creator, lead writer and editor)
of  
Astronomy Picture of the Day

Sitting in the grandeur of the Fels planetarium and being guided by the creator of a website that daily communicates grandeur to it's audience is an amazing experience for astronomy buffs and amateurs alike.  Thank you Dr. Nemiroff  for sharing your 'choice' selections, your insight and your dream with the Rittenhouse Astronomical Society Members and guests. Your interest in astronomy was felt by any who attended tonight's presentation.  The journey you created through our solar system, around the Universe and back again through your unique selection of the most fascinating images developed by our species is a testament to human creativity, our technology and the artistry it can reveal.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

   

 

 

Follow Dr. Kremer mission updates at :
The Planetary Society (9-22), and at
The Planetary Society Weblog (9-27)


Planetary Society volunteer Ken Kremer is reporting for us from the Kennedy Space Center, where he is anticipating the launch of Dawn on September 26. Kremer is a research scientist who spends his spare time giving public outreach presentations on behalf of The Planetary Society as a volunteer and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a Solar System Ambassador. Thanks Ken! --ESL

 

Special Event 6/06/07

Winston E. Scott   Former NASA Astronaut


Special Lecture & Book Signing:  Winston E. Scott (former NASA Astronaut) will be speaking October 5th 7:00-8:00 PM in celebration of World Space Week at The Franklin Institute.  This will be followed by a signing of his book "Reflections from Earth Orbit".   The meeting is free, but registration is required to help us prepare proper seating please RSVP:  215-448-1231 to notify TFI you will be attending.  Mention that you are a Rittenhouse Member. 

     Captain Scott, a trained naval aviator and officer, received his Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1980. After completing jet training, he served a tour of duty with Fighter Squadron Eighty Four at the Naval Air Station (NAS) in Oceana, Virginia. In 1986, he was designated as an Aerospace Engineering Duty Officer and served as a production test pilot at the Naval Aviation Depot, NAS in Jacksonville, Florida.
     Scott was selected by NASA in March 1992, and reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992. He served as a mission specialist on STS-72 in 1996 and STS-87 in 1997, and has logged a total of 24 days, 14 hours and 34 minutes in space, including 3 spacewalks totaling 19 hours and 26 minutes.

     
Dr. Dennis Wint, President & CEO of The Franklin Institute and Dr. Milton Freidman will deliver opening introductions.

~~~

Meeting Night 6/13/07

Louis Berman:  Inspired by the Worlds Leading Telescopes

To paraphrase “Unusual Telescopes” author Peter L. Manly, “The important parts of a telescope are a few grams of reflective aluminum; everything else is simply mechanics!"  If telescopes merely exist to gather light then he is surely correct.  My contention, however, is that they also exist to inspire and astound.  And for me at least the mechanics are totally fascinating.  Indeed, I’ve had a lifelong love-affair with telescopes and observatories.  In the last four months alone I’ve toured more than a dozen including the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, Palomar Observatory on Mount Palomar, Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, WI, and the huge Gemini, Subaru and Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea, HI.  My ongoing plan is to visit every notable telescope / observatory extant and to document my travails with a book (titled ScopeSeeing) to be published late 2008.

 

The point of my presentation is that you can do this too!  I will examine the process from selecting an observatory to negotiating for private access and observing time to wrangling your colleagues; everything you need to organize a successful trip of your own. I'll also show a couple of travelogues from my own trips to get you stoked!

Louis Berman

 

 

Meeting Night 5/9/07

Special Event Brother Guy Consolmango

 

 

Meeting Night 4/11/07

Dr. Ken Kremer: Mars Saturn Comets and Beyond in 3-D

 

Meeting Night 3/14/07

Dr. Al Lamperti  The Univese in 3-D

Meeting Night 1/10/07

Dr. Chris Sommer introduced us to "Rambo Viruses" that may survive the extreme conditions of space.  His talk centered on the structures that certain viruses and bacteria have developed for survival of extreme conditions here on earth.  He then linked the conditions found on Earth to similar conditions we have found on various moons of our solar system. 
Providing evidence of past impacts, and how pieces of Earth's crust have been ejected into space was discussed as a method as to how viable microorganisms may have been transported to other celestial bodies. 

A color enhanced micrograph of the red-pigmented D. radiodurans cell, highlighting the ring-like morphology of the cell genome.
Courtesy S. Levin-Zaidman

An interesting idea proposed during his talk asked us to consider that the first alien life we may discover, could be life that originated on Earth itself.

~~~

 
 

Meeting Night 12/10/06
 

 

Alan Daroff was in top form with our guest lecture as he guided society members back into the past to appreciate the work of David Rittenhouse.  The Rittenhouse Clock, on display at Drexel University, was the focus of the evening presentation.  He informed the audience about the exquisite detail and craftsmanship that is exhibited in this piece of Rittenhouse's work.   Together with an array of pictures provided by fellow society member Drew Maser, the talk was informative and quite interesting.

Alan topped of the evening presentation with a talk on the Retro-reflectors placed on the moons surface.  Coupling the presentation with a laser demonstration involving cubic corner reflectors helped the audience understand the precision of these tools (still in use today) for measuring the exact distance to the moon.

 

~~~

Meeting Night 11/8/06

Members have requested a telescope night in time for that holiday gift purchase, and society officers stepped up to the challenge.  Dave Walker reviewed various beginner telescopes and helped the audience to understand what to look for when purchasing binoculars for viewing the night sky.  Dave covered the basic nomenclature for the various styles of telescopes and utilized a reflector, and refractor that were set up in the planetarium for a hands on look. 

Alan Daroff continued the evening talk with an orientation to the function of lenses and what view they afford.  He also compared the various light paths that different telescopes utilize to bring us those fantastic views.  Alan had lenses on hand and materials from various telescope manufacturers to aid in ones purchase.

Members hung around after the meeting to answer personal questions from members and visitors in attendance who are thinking of buying or upgrading their telescopes.

~~~

Meeting Night 10/11/06

This year will be a memorable one for our society with the refurbishment of the rooftop observatory at the Franklin Institute.   Derrick Pitts, Chris Ray and  Dr. Fred Orthlieb were on hand to share their first hand experience and pictures of  the renovation involved with the Zeis Refractor telescope.  The scope is truly one of a kind, and now that is is refurbished, we expect the use of this fine instrument will be extended for another 70 years.


Dr. Fred Orthlieb conducts some final adjustments


Although observation was not possible due to the cloud cover and rain, that did not stop interested members from touring the observatory and watching demonstrations of the new equipment, the drive and tracking features, and the computer assisted command utilized to aid in proper tracking for the scope.

         

Hats off to Derrick and the crew at the Franklin Institute and special thanks to the Antique Telescope Society for completing such fine work ensuring a front seat view for future visitors to the museum.  The Joel N. Bloom observatory is open to the public daily for sun spotting, for viewing celestial events, and is planning public observing nights in addition to our meetings nights throughout the year.

~~~

Meeting Night 9/13/06

What a great way to start our fall meetings!  Hearing from society members and their astronomical interests is a good way to build a community of people with common interests. 
 

Alan Daroff provided us with some upcoming sky events to watch for and also tantalized us with some out of this world trivia.  Alan was quite surprised when Peg Labosh correctly answered some of the questions with her knowledge of Star Trek trivia, and William Herschel facts!
 

Ruth List continued our evening agenda sharing her experience of taking a recent correspondence course in astronomy.  She explained how some are available for undergraduate credits, graduate credits and she also talked of some non-credit astronomy interest courses.
 

Mike Mountjoy enlightened us as to the work involved when Space Command was constructed.  Mike works with the Franklin Institute and his pictures of the construction process gave us all an inside view of what is required to make the magic happen!
 

Peg Labosh took center stage with her presentation on the Mysteries of Stonehenge and other astronomical sites of interest from around the globe.  Ted Williams finished the evening with a proposal and presentation on Spinning in the planetarium.  He also explained the new Apprentice Program geared to student visitors and how they can obtain a student membership.

~~~

Meeting Night 6/16/06


Our end-of-year field trip turned into a beautiful night under the stars.  Yes, the weather, and the location came together to offer our society members an excellent evening under clear skies both inside and out.   Our spring field trip found us visiting the Mallon planetarium of the Methacton School District.  It is located on the campus of the Arcola Intermediate School.
 

We were all treated to a full length feature presentation called Light Years from Andromeda driven by the Spitz ATM4 automation system.  It was then we were to see double. Darkness set early inside the planetarium as we were led through sunset on an orientation to the evening sky by the planetarium director Ted Williams.  A repeat performance as darkness set in outside under the twilight sky with assistance of Alan Daroff, Mike Mountjoy, Dave Walker, Carol Ludolf, their telescopes, their advice, green lasers, the International Space Station all added to a great night under the summer stars.  Read more about our evening in the September Rittenhouse Newsletter.

~~~

Meeting Night 5/31/06

SPECIAL GUESTS & BOOKSIGNING:
   DR. JOEL PRIMACK AND NANCY ELLEN ABRAMS


Alan Daroff; Vice President
Ted Williams; Secretary  / Ruth List; Treasurer / Carol Ludolph; Member at Large
DR. JOEL PRIMACK; Astrophysicist, Cosmologist, Author / NANCY ELLEN ABRAMS; Author, Historian, Songwriter


Special Thanks for helping with our event as
we extend a warm welcome to a new member:  Margaret Labosh
Peg is a certified event coordinator!

 

The Franklin Institute can attract the leading scientists and authors in our field, and we benefit greatly from our association with such a fine organization.   Thank you Mr. Phillip Hammer (Vice-President Franklin Center) for your introduction and reception of our members, and stepping up to the duties of moderator for the discussion following the presentation.  I'd also like to thank our Treasurer Ruth List for designing our new  information/membership flyer (you will receive with your June mailing), and her continued assistance in publishing our newsletter.  Also special thanks to Peggy Labosh for assisting with our reception table.

Ted Williams
Secretary
6/03/2006

~~~

Meeting Night 4/19/06

Professor Peter Rona showed us a world within our world with his excellent photos and description of life forms living at the bottom of the oceans never seen before. The tube worms and shrimp had different functioning parts compared to the animals living among us. The lack of eyes on the shrimp were explained by the lack of need in the pitch black world miles below the surface.

The audience seemed spellbound and their questions were stimulating. Once again, we are pleased that Bodine High School students attend our lectures.

The night ended with a great finale as we looked at the planets through the telescope of Dave Walker.

Dr. Milton Friedman
President
4/20/2006

 

~~~

Meeting night 3/8/06


Karl brings back some amazing memories with the "Outer Limits" galaxy.

When Karl Krasley was relating his memories of how the Sombrero Galaxy first caught  his attention watching Outer Limits as a child, he struck a chord with our audience.  A little explanation was needed for our younger visitors, but much appreciated by those who grew up with the Outer Limits original television run in black and white.  Those sights have spurred on more than one astronomer!

I think we can all conclude that Karl is a spiral expert.  His first hand observations and guidance as to what can make or break a night observing under the stars was a great warm-up for spring which is just around the corner.  Karl's tips on dark sky sights across Pennsylvania were appreciated by both members and guests. 

Special thanks to Karl and his guests from Chesmont Astronomical Society for sharing their expertise, advice and helpful tips on good telescopes, and great sights.

Dr. Milton Friedman
President
3/9/2006

~~~

Meeting night 2/8/06

Dr. Kim Weaver's presentation  "New Eyes on the Universe"  broadened the view for 65 members, guests and students at our recent meeting in the Fels Planetarium.  From Radio Energy through Gamma Rays,  Dr. Weaver was the perfect lens to helps us see, understand and appreciate the view of the cosmos across the electro-magnetic spectrum.

Her presentation truly led all who attended (from novice through enthusiast) to a greater understanding of what lies beyond the spectrum our eyes can see.  The combination of the Digital Sky in the Fels planetarium with the projected images from Hubble, Chandra and Spitzer was a perfect combination of astronomy and beauty.

On behalf of our officers I would like to thank Dr. Weaver for the energy she can generate explaining the invisible Universe and to our members and  guests for their strong support of this evening's presentation. 

If you want to learn more about X-ray astronomy you might try reading Dr. Weavers recent publication "The Violent Universe: Joyrides across the X-ray Cosmos."  Or check out information about the electromagnetic spectrum at:

Dr. Milton Friedman
President
2/9/2006

~~~

Meeting night 1/11/2006


 

SOCIETY OFFICERS (Left to Right)

Dave Walker Liaison to Fels Planetarium
Mike Mountjoy Member
Dr. Carol Ludolph Member at Large
Ted Williams Secretary / Webmaster / Newsletter
Dr. Ken Kremer Guest Speaker / NASA Ambassador program
Dr. Milton Friedman President
Ruth List Treasurer / Newsletter

~Dr. Kremer engaged the audience and we were off to Mars.  His talk  "Exploring Mars and the Search for Life"  was an adventure from take-off, through touch down.  It didn't stop there! We journeyed across Mars, and through the rovers eyes went mountain climbing, surveying, and moon gazing.  Dust Devil Ally was so realistic on the planetarium dome that we felt like we were there.  I could easily see the interest in the questions and answers that were brought forward by our members and guests.  Many thanks Dr. Kremer, we would be honored to have you speak again next year!

Dr. Milton Friedman
President
1/12/2006

Last Updated 5/27/08

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