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Alachua Astronomy Club, Inc. |  Member Astronomical League |
 Member International Dark-Sky Association |
| Monthly Meetings 2000 |
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| 29°39' N, 82°21' W Altitude: 50 Meters (more or less) |
Updated Nov. 13, 2000 | ||
| (Click logo for home page) | Founded: September 1987 |
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Location
Doyle Conner Building
1911 S.W. 34th Street (at S.W. 20th Avenue)
Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida USA
- All monthly meetings are free and open to the public
- The Alachua Freenet Community Calendar often lists our monthly meetings
- Check detailed schedule for any changes in time or location
- The AAC Executive Council also meets the first Tuesday of the month
Click on date to see details
DATE (2000) GUEST SPEAKER TITLE OR TOPIC
January 11 Howard L. Cohen The Secret of the Sanhedrin: Understanding the Hebrew Calendar February 8 Gilbert Bernardo Teaching Astronomy in The Public Schools or Why The Schools Need The AAC More Than Ever! March 14 Jack Newton Splendors of the Universe April 11 Fred Heinrich The Winter Star Party May 9 Chuck Pisa How To Accessorize Your Telescope June 13 Shirish R. Patel The International Space Station July 11 Pamela Mydock Planet X and Beyond August 8 Ron Irby Captain Ron's Intergalactic Voyage September 12 Mike Toomey Astronomical League Observing Clubs October 10 Chuck Broward, Bud Cridlin The RLT ("Rather Large Telescope") & Friends November 14 David Dahari Solving the Puzzle of Star Formation in our Galaxy December 16 None (Holiday Party) Help Celebrate Our 13th Anniversary
Details of 2000 Meetings
Tuesday, January 11, 2000, 7:30 p.m. EST
Speaker: Dr. Howard L. Cohen, Associate Professor of Astronomy, Dept. of Astronomy, Univ. of Florida
Title: The Secret of the Sanhedrin: Understanding the Hebrew Calendar
Location: Doyle Conner Building, 1911 S.W. 34 Street, Gainesville, FL
Preview: For nearly a thousand years the Jewish highest court and legislative body, the Sanhedrin, controlled the Hebrew calendar. In the fourth century of the common era, the Patriarch Hillel II published the secret rules of calendar calculations to thwart Christian domination over Jewish peoples. Since these early times, Hebrew calendar calculations have become fixed in permanent form.
Now you too can learn the secret rules of Jewish calendar calculations, said by some to be the "oldest, the most skillful, and the one of the most elegant calendars still used today." [Joseph Justus Scaliger] This fascinating talk will provide a general introduction to solar and lunar calendars, and discuss the basis of lunisolar calendars. The presentation will conclude with a clear and simple outline of basic Hebrew calendar calculations and its intriguing complications.
Come to the January meeting and learn how the Hebrew calendar links humankind and nature together in ways that many other calendars do not.
Tuesday, February 8, 2000, 7:30 p.m. EST
Speaker: Gilbert Bernardo, Public School Science Teacher
Title: Teaching Astronomy in The Public Schools or Why The Schools Need The AAC More Than Ever!
Location: Doyle Conner Building, 1911 S.W. 34 Street, Gainesville, FL
Preview: Gilbert will discuss how the "Sunshine State Standards" impact the teaching of astronomy—and science in general—in our public schools. He will include tips for topics to speak about, activities to do, some handouts, and helpful sources.
Tuesday, March 14, 2000, 7:30 p.m. EST
Speaker: Jack Newton (former Marks & Spencer Store Manager and always a devoted astrophotographer!)
Title: Splendors of the Universe
Location: Doyle Conner Building, 1911 S.W. 34 Street, Gainesville, FL
Preview: Jack will discuss the viewing and photographing of the many jewels in our night skies. See his web site for more information on this very accomplished speaker and internationally recognized amateur astronomer and astro-imager. Jack has helped pioneer the field of amateur CCD photography, especially high resolution tri-color imaging. Jack is a frequent contributor to astronomy magazines including Sky & Telescope and Astronomy Magazine.
Tuesday, April 11, 2000, 7:30 p.m. EDT
Speaker: Fred Heinrich, Registrar for the WSP
Title: The Winter Star Party
Location: Doyle Conner Building, 1911 S.W. 34 Street, Gainesville, FL
Preview: A summary with pictures of this popular big, winter event by AAC member Fred Heinrich, Registrar of the Winter Star Party.
Tuesday, May 9, 2000, 7:30 p.m. EDT
Speaker: Chuck Pisa, Astronomy Products Coordinator for Wolf Camera
Title: How To Accessorize Your Telescope
Location: Doyle Conner Building, 1911 S.W. 34 Street, Gainesville, FL
Preview: An in depth look at the many ways you can adapt a telescope to suit your needs. From eyepieces and barlows, to telrads and guidescopes, come learn about the pros and cons of that new "dream" accessory you've been planning to buy!
You can contact Chuck (e-mail cpisa@mindspring.com) at any time up to the May meeting with subjects of interest you would like to see covered. Chuck will bring as many examples of products as practical—so let him know if there is something you would like to take a peak at! This talk will be geared toward the understanding of available choices out there to pick from—not a sales pitch to buy products.
Tuesday, June 13, 2000, 7:30 p.m. EDT
Speaker: Shirish R. Patel, NASA Electrical Engineer, International Space Station & Shuttle Payloads Directorate
Title: The International Space Station
Location: Doyle Conner Building, 1911 S.W. 34 Street, Gainesville, FL
Preview:
Shirish is an electrical engineer with the International Space Station & Shuttle Payloads Directorate. As the technical Avionics and Software Systems engineer for the Cargo Integration Test Equipment (CITE) and Level I integration, he is responsible for engineering and management activities relating to payload processing at the Kennedy Space Center. Shirish manages the installation and removal of Engineering Ground Support Equipment (EGSE) and maintains flight hardware configurations in order to meet test schedules. He also provides flight and ground software support for payload testing, including launch countdown support as a lead systems engineer from the firing room on the day of the space shuttle launches. In addition to this, he manages Space Shuttle Program Flight Operations Re-Invention initiatives for his directorate.
Shirish began his career with NASA in January 1991, where he was the first Indian American engineer recruited directly from college. As Lead Engineer, he participates in processing of all the Payloads, including ISS that fly in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle. He has helped process and launch several notable missions, including the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) reservice mission in 1993, the STS-67/Astronomy-2 (ASTRO-2) mission in 1995, the STS-69/Wake Shield Facility free-flying experiment platform, which flew in the low vacuum of space, and most recently, the first element of the International Space Station (NODE-2A).
As a NASA engineer, Shirish has mentored several elementary school students through the Equal Opportunity Office for the Science, Engineering and Research Crew Help (SEARCH) program. Also, a member of a team of volunteer NASA engineers who helped the students at the University High School in Orlando Florida build a model Shuttle launch facility, including control center and launch complex. The efforts of these students and their mentors have been written up in several national magazines and were featured on a CNN segment. In 1994, he mentored a recently hired engineer, who graduated from NASA's own ATP program and a NASA summer intern scholar from Florida A&M University. Shirish also routinely judges and presents NASA awards at regional and state science fairs. He conducts KSC tours for visitors including government officials, members of private industry, and celebrities.
Shirish immigrated to the United States of America in January 1979 and settled in Chicago, where he completed his elementary education, graduating in the top 3% of his high school class. He received his Associate of Science Degree from Triton Junior College, Illinois in August 1989 and his Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering and a Math minor from Southern Illinois University (SIU) in December 1990.
Shirish is single and lives on Merritt Island, Florida.
Tuesday, July 11, 2000, 7:30 p.m. EDT
Speaker: Pamela Mydock, AAC FirstLight Editor
Title: Planet X and Beyond
Location: Doyle Conner Building, 1911 S.W. 34 Street, Gainesville, FL
Preview: Evidence of other planets around other stars is a new phenomenon in astronomy. Ten years ago, our solar system was the only one we knew about. The deeper we probe into the universe the more we learn about the formation of planetary systems, including our own.
Tuesday, August 8, 2000, 7:30 p.m. EDT
Speaker: Ron Irby, Alachua Astronomy Club Member and Avid Astrophotographer
Title: Captain Ron's Intergalactic Voyage
Location: Doyle Conner Building, 1911 S.W. 34 Street, Gainesville, FL
Preview: Ron will present the PowerPoint slide show that has been such a big hit this spring in the local schools and at recent star parties. See photos of solar system objects as well as Ron's own collection of deep space objects.
Tuesday, September 12, 2000, 7:30 p.m. EDT
Speaker: Mike Toomey
Title: Astronomical League Observing Clubs
Location: Doyle Conner Building, 1911 S.W. 34 Street, Gainesville, FL
Preview: When the Moon, Jupiter and Orion Nebula become habitual targets, it's time to test your skills will an observing program. AAC monthly star parties are an excellent opportunity to work on these programs, and members are usually eager to share equipment and knowledge with those pursuing their Astronomical League Observing Club certificates. Tonight's talk will introduce the 15 observing programs to help you find one suited to your interest, equipment and experience. Printed materials will be available to help you get started right away. (This talk is suited to anyone interested in astronomy; beginners are especially encouraged to attend.)
Tuesday, October 10, 2000, 7:30 p.m. EDT
Speaker: Chuck Broward, Bud Cridlin and Friends
Title: RLT ("The Rather Large Telescope")
Location: Doyle Conner Building, 1911 S.W. 34 Street, Gainesville, FL
Preview: Hands-on demonstrations of the club's 17.5" Dobsonian reflector with new its new Sky Commander computer (98% less Velcro!). Learn how to use the club's large reflector. (Members can borrow this instrument!) Also learn how to use a computer control system—specifically how to operate the club's new Sky Commander computer.
Tuesday, November 14, 2000, 7:30 p.m. EST
Speaker: David Dahari, Dept. Astronomy, University of Florida
Title: Solving the Puzzle of Star Formation in our Galaxy
Location: Doyle Conner Building, 1911 S.W. 34 Street, Gainesville, FL
Preview: Understanding how stars form is one of the most fundamental elements in astrophysics. Galaxy formation and evolution, cluster dynamics and planet formation are all affected by star formation. By observing stars in our galaxy, we can better hope to understand these processes. Central to star formation is the initial mass function (IMF): the distribution of stellar masses at star birth. In the past the IMF has been studied by imaging stars in the near-infrared but this method has many uncertainties. A new camera called FLAMINGOS, created at the University of Florida, will be able to help us interpret the IMF using spectroscopy instead of imaging and possibly solve, once and for all, the puzzle of star formation in our galaxy.
Saturday, December 16, 2000, 6:00 p.m. EST (dinner served at 6:30 p.m.)
Speaker: None but lots of fun!
Title: "Holiday Party" and Celebration of AAC's 13th Birthday!
Location: Cohen Residence, 1501 N.W. 28 Street, Gainesville, FL (174K gif map)
Preview: AAC will hold its annual December holiday party — a potluck dinner. (There will be no regular Tuesday meeting in December.) Bring a salad, veggie, dessert, etc. Club will buy drinks, main dish and paper products. (There will be a food sign up sheet at our November 13th meeting — see above.)
If you missed signing up at the November meeting, please respond to webmaster@floridastars.org and indicate what food dish you will bring (appetizer, vegetable, salad, bread or dessert), the number of adults who will attend, and the number of children who will attend (and their ages).
Last year we celebrated our 12th anniversary. This year we celebrate our club's 13th anniversary. Good food, games, our traditional astro slide quiz, lots of prizes, sci fi space music, and an astro video!
Begins approximately at sunset. Lasts till whenever.
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