Join us early this month on November 18 at 6:30 p.m., either at the Ponderosa firehouse or on Zoom, for a great Astronomy Show and Tell session! (no novice talk)

We would love to hear from our members!
We will begin with a roundtable discussion of eyepieces – bring some of your eyepieces and Bruce Pollard will talk about them.

Zoom link

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88382177157?pwd=OXd0aC82Z2hpQ2ttWDdnWHBWc3laZz09

Meeting ID: 883 8217 7157
Passcode: 597833

You have an opportunity to present on a variety of topics for 5-10 minutes including:

• A new telescope and guiding system you have
• A telescope you built
• Astrophotography related trips or pictures
• Your experiences at a big star party (like Texas Star Party) to let others know what to expect
• An observatory you have or are working on
• What you are doing with downloaded data from NASA
• Any other astronomy related topic you would like to present to the group

Please email Susan if you would like to present something at the meeting. Ideally all presenters can come to the meeting in person.

Join us on October 28, either at the Ponderosa firehouse or on Zoom, for a couple of great astronomy talks.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88945256266
Meeting ID: 889 4525 6266
One tap mobile
+13462487799,,88945256266# US (Houston)
+16699006833,,88945256266# US (San Jose)

First at 6:30 p.m. we have our FYI session over accessing and using NASA data and images.

Next at 7:30 p.m. our main speaker, Andrea Isella, will give an exciting talk on How to build a planetary system: new insights from astronomical observations.

Abstract:
Until a few decades ago, all our knowledge of how planets are formed was based on observations of the Solar System and on the analysis of meteorites. Then, starting in the late 90s, a new generation of telescopes delivered unprecedented imaging capabilities allowing astronomers to discover planets around other stars and directly witness their formation. Since then, astronomical observations have revolutionized planet formation and have reshaped our view of the Solar System. In the presentation, Dr. Isella will introduce the main theoretical and observational challenges involved in understanding the formation of planets and will discuss how current and future astronomical observations will address them.

Bio:
Dr. Andrea Isella is the William V. Vietti Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University. His research focuses on understanding the formation of stars and planets. Dr. Isella received his PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Milano, in Italy, and, before moving to Rice in 2014, he spent several years at the California Institute of Technology developing instrumentation to image the universe at radio wavelengths.

Join us on September 23, either at the Ponderosa firehouse or on Zoom, for a couple of great astronomy talks.

Zoom link opens at 6:15
Join Zoom Meeting here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86427518632?pwd=RzJjZ0Z5bGFrdTBNcGJLUE41UW5Pdz09
Meeting ID: 864 2751 8632
Passcode: 130563

First at 6:30 p.m. we have our FYI session which will demonstrate how to get image data from the NASA website and then process it yourself. We will also talk about bit about Jupiter opposition that will happen on September 26.

Next at 7:30 p.m. we have our main speaker, Dr. Mark Matney, with a fascinating presentation on orbital debris.

Mark Matney, PhD, will talk about Orbital Debris. Orbital Debris is a major (and growing) source of hazard to both crewed and robotic spacecraft – especially in low-Earth orbit. NASA is a world leader in understanding and helping mitigate the risk for all users of space – both U.S. and international.

Bio:
Mark Matney is a planetary scientist and modeling lead for the Orbital Debris Program Office within the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division at the Johnson Space Center. Matney’s work involves all aspects of orbital debris research including measurements, modeling, and mitigation. He received his doctorate in Space Physics and Astronomy from Rice University.