Greetings fellow astrophiles!
A few points of note for the next several days (and one from last week).
1. MVAS Banquet – 11 April 2015
A pic from the Mohawk Valley Astronomical Society’s Annual Banquet this past Saturday, April 11th. As a satellite member of the group, I was fortunate to have left Syracuse early, discovering that there are TWO Daniele’s restaurants in the Utica/New Hartford area (and Google Maps only seems to know about one of them!). These events are always a great time, complete with great food, great company, and an engaging keynote for the evening.
Due to the under-the-weather-ness of Joe Eakin from Colgate’s Ho Tung Visualization Lab, Colgate and MVAS’s own Dr. Thomas Balonek (the first MVAS’er to pay their 2016 dues!) gave a high-energy lecture on the scale of objects in the Solar System (and a ways beyond). After his first distance measure sent him out to the parking lot, he returned to send the rest of us outside to enjoy a few minutes of clear skies (the pic below, featuring the back half of CNYO’s own Christopher Shuck (and the front half of his watch)) before helping attendees get a handle on the relative sizes of objects and distances (for when the rest of us give similar lectures). It should also not go unnoticed that the club was still making note of Al Mlinar’s 100th birthday, complete with a sign-able, frame-able copy of Messier 100.
Anyone interested in taking in a few of Prof. Balonek’s lectures are encouraged to check out the Colgate Astronomy website for posted materials: observatory.colgate.edu/lectures.html
2. Bob Piekiel At Baltimore Woods On Friday, April 17
Bob’s first (hopefully) comfortable evening of observing in Marcellus is happening this Friday (with Saturday as the weather-alternate) at Baltimore Woods, with Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn prime for viewing.
As with all Baltimore Woods events, they ask that you RSVP for the event through their facility. Also note that Baltimore Woods is supported by hosting these events, so there is an associated fee for the event ($5 for BW members, $8 for non-BW-members). To RSVP, contact the BW office at (315) 673-1350 or info@baltimorewoods.org.
Also, check back directly with Baltimore Woods about any cancellation and rescheduling.
3. NEAF And NEAF Solar, April 18/19
Ryan Goodson and I will be heading out Friday afternoon and will have with us nearly all of the remaining Stuventory for sale at the New Moon Telescopes booth (and will be accepting credit card payments!). Feel free to pass that info along to any NEAF attendees. And do make sure to stop by the NMT booth and also that of our friends (and fellow members) of the Kopernik Astronomical Society.
4. CNYO Spring Session At Beaver Lake Nature Center, April 23/30
We’ll have another announcement shortly, but our first session of the year at Beaver Lake will happen (weather pending) this coming Thursday, April 23rd (30th as the weather-alternate).
