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• Silver Springs State Park Silver Star Party Outreach

  • When
    4 Jun 2022
  •  
    7:30 PM - 10:00 PM
  • Location
    Silver Springs State Park@ 1425 NE 58th Ave., Ocala FL

  Register

  Silver Star Party Outreach

  
  

  Looking for AAC  members  with telescopes to show off the night sky at Silver Springs State Park in Ocala.  Members need to be set up before 8 pm for visitors starting at 8:30 pm.  Members without telescopes can help too!  Please sign up if interested.

  Sunset is at 8:26 pm.  Moon rise is at 10:38 am and will be at 24.6% illumination, so the moon will be at the top of our observing list.  Members should have a couple of items they would like to show off along with some information about them.

  GO or NO GO will be emailed to registrants by noon the day of the event.

  Lisa Eager (lisa.eager@alachuaastronomyclub.org) will be the contact for this event. 

  Directions:

  Silver Springs has multiple entrances. Please set your GPS to "Silver  River Museum",     1425 NE 58th Ave, Ocala, FL 34470".

  Via US-441: 

  Take 441 South about 30 miles to FL-326 near Anthony. Turn left. Follow FL-326 for 6.4 miles then turn right at a light onto NE 58th Ave, AKA CR-35 or Baseline Road. Pass SR-40, Silver Springs Blvd (DO NOT TURN LEFT) and drive for another mile. Look for signs for Silver Springs State Park on the left.

  
  

  Via I-75: 

  Take 75 South to exit 356. Turn left on FL-326 and drive for 9.3 miles. Turn right at a light onto NE 58th Ave, AKA CR-35 or Baseline Road. Pass SR-40, Silver Springs Blvd (DO NOT TURN LEFT) and drive for another mile. Look for signs for Silver Springs State Park on the left.

  
  

  Via I-75 and SR-40: 

  Take 75 South to exit 352. Turn left onto SR-40, Silver Springs Blvd. Drive 6 miles to NE 58th Ave, AKA SR-35 or Baseline Road. Turn right and drive for another mile. Look for signs for Silver Springs State Park on the left.

  
  

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• AAC Monthly Meeting

  • When
    14 Jun 2022
  •  
    7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
  • Location
    Kika Silva Pla Planetarium & Zoom

  Register

  Agenda:
  

  7:00 - 7:15 General Meeting & Announcements
  7:15 - 7:30 Short topic presentation by a club member

  7:30 - 7:45 Refreshment break

  7:45 - Public Presentation

  
  

  Speaker:

  Marcia Bartusiak

  Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Author & Journalist

   

  Topic: Edwin Hubble's Discovery of the Modern Universe

  Abstract: 

  The 100th anniversary of young Edwin Hubble's discovery of the modern universe is coming up in 2023. This discovery, which many consider one of most significant discoveries in scientific history, sent shock waves through the scientific community, and eventually revealed that our universe is a thousand trillion times larger than originally thought. Marcia Bartusiak will give a presentation on the steps leading up to this astounding discovery.

  About the Speaker:

  Combining her skills as a journalist with an advanced degree in physics, Marcia Bartusiak has been covering the fields of astronomy and physics for four decades. The author of seven books, she is Professor of the Practice Emeritus in the Graduate Program in Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her latest books are Dispatches from Planet 3, an essay collection for the armchair astronomer, a revised edition of Einstein's Unfinished Symphony, her award-winning history of gravitational-wave astronomy and its first detections, and Black Hole: How an Idea Abandoned by Newtonians, Hated by Einstein, and Gambled on by Hawking Became Loved. 
  
  Bartusiak is also the author of Thursday's Universe, a layman's guide to the frontiers of astrophysics and cosmology, and Through a Universe Darkly, a history of astronomers' centuries-long quest to discover the universe's composition. Both were named notable science books by The New York Times. More recently published are The Day We Found the Universe, a narrative saga of the birth of modern cosmology and the 2010 winner of the History of Science Society's Davis Prize, and Archives of the Universe, a history of the major discoveries in astronomy told through 100 of the original scientific publications. She was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, has won the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Prize three times, and also received the AIP's prestigious Gemant Award for "significant contributions to the cultural, artistic, or humanistic dimension of physics."
  
  Graduating in 1971 with a degree in communications from American University in Washington, D.C., Bartusiak first spent four years as a TV reporter and anchorwoman in Norfolk, Virginia. Assignments at the nearby NASA Langley Research Center sparked a love for science news, which encouraged her to enter Old Dominion University for a master's degree in physics. Her research involved the effects of radiation on optical materials sent into space as parts of orbiting astronomical observatories, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Ultraviolet Explorer. 
  

  Writing Interests

  Starting her science-writing career as an intern at Science News and then as a charter member of Discover's writing staff, she continues to write about astronomy and physics in a variety of national publications. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, Astronomy, Science, Popular Science, Sky & Telescope, World Book Encyclopedia, Smithsonian, and Technology Review. For many years a contributing editor at Discover, she is now on the editorial advisory board of Astronomy magazine. She also reviews science books for The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.  

   

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• AAC Monthly Meeting

  • When
    12 Jul 2022
  •  
    7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
  • Location
    Kika Silva Pla Planetarium & Zoom

  Register

  Agenda:
  

  7:00 - 7:15 General Meeting & Announcements
  7:15 - 7:30 Short topic presentation by a club member

  7:30 - 7:45 Refreshment break

  7:45 - Public Presentation

  
  

  Speaker:

  Dr. Paul Sell

  Lecturer

  University of Florida Astronomy Department

  

  Topic: Binary Stars

  Abstract: 

  Binary stellar systems are key tools for several areas of Astrophysics: star-formation processes, the late stages of stellar evolution, compact object formation, and compact object mergers. Aside from the direct observation of photometric or spectroscopic binary stars in our Galaxy, the most efficient probe of binary stellar systems is the observation of the X-ray emitting phase of interacting binaries. Additionally, studies of X-ray binaries provide critical information on the behavior of matter at extreme gravitational and/or magnetic fields. Understanding these processes is fundamental to modern astrophysics and has been the driver of multiple theoretical and observational studies.

  About the Speaker:

  Dr. Sell earned his B.Sc. in Physics with a concentration in Astrophysics from the University of Toledo in 2007 and then his Ph.D. in Astronomy in 2013 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison under the supervision of Sebastian Heinz. For his postdoctoral work, he first moved to Texas Tech University to continue his research and taught introductory astronomy. Finally, he moved to the University of Crete, Greece for a second postdoctoral research opportunity before joining the faculty at the University of Florida in 2019. His areas of expertise include Optical and X-ray observations of X-ray binaries and starburst galaxies. While working hard to stay active in his research, his passion and primary responsibility as a Lecturer is teaching astronomy. He uses many education-research-inspired ideas to enhance student experiences and improve learning outcomes, many of them he gleaned as he earned a teaching certificate through the Delta program at UW-Madison.   

  Research Interests

  Dr. Sell’s research interests extend across many astronomical size scales, from the size of the solar system to galaxy-wide.  He examines galactic population characteristics of the most extreme stellar remnants, neutron stars and black holes, and how they influence the local interstellar medium through powerful radiation and outflows.  He also studies highly disruptive and dissipative galaxy mergers that, through feedback, drive shockwaves into the intergalactic medium. This all helps us better understand how galaxies and their stellar populations are linked and evolve through cosmic time.

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• AAC Monthly Meeting

  • When
    9 Aug 2022
  •  
    7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
  • Location
    Kika Silva Pla Planetarium & Zoom

  Register

  Agenda:
  

  7:00 - 7:15 General Meeting & Announcements
  7:15 - 7:30 Short topic presentation by a club member

  7:30 - 7:45 Refreshment break

  7:45 - Public Presentation

  Speaker: James Albury

  Planetarium Director and host of the YouTube Series "The Sky Above Us"
  
  

  
  

  
  
  Topic: Winter Stars

  About the Speaker:

  James C. Albury grew up in Miami, FL where he started volunteering at the Miami Museum of Science and Space Transit Planetarium at the of age 14. He began by helping with ushering, but by age 15, he began working part-time as a console operator for the planetarium. Albury enjoyed astronomy and the planetarium environment so much, that he stayed with the Miami Science Museum until age 22 when he moved away to college.

  In 1988, Albury relocated to Gainesville, FL to pursue a degree in Astronomy from the University of Florida. He graduated in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science in Astronomy and pursued post-baccalaureate studies in astronomy shortly thereafter.

  Careers in astronomy being what they were, Albury worked from 1993 - 2007 for UF's Office of Academic Technology and then as a manager with Lifestyle Family Fitness in Jacksonville, FL from 2007 - 2009. In 2009, Albury was able to professionally return to his first love (Astronomy) when he became the director of the Kika Silva Pla Planetarium at Santa Fe College. He has produced numerous planetarium shows in the 11 years that he has been the planetarium’s director.

  Albury was also a co-host with Dean Regas of the internationally syndicated PBS show “Star Gazers” (the world’s only weekly television program on naked-eye astronomy). Albury and Regas hosted the show together from October 2011 to November 2019. In February 2020, Albury launched his own astronomy series on YouTube titled “The Sky Above Us”. Each episode gives viewers a sneak-peak at the celestial events, planets and constellations that are visible in the sky during the coming weeks. (http://www.theskyaboveus.org)

  Between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020, Albury served as President of the Southeastern Planetarium Association (SEPA); a professional organization for the support of planetaria and staff in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and all U.S. Territories off the southeastern coast of the U.S. He currently serves on the SEPA Executive Council as Past-president (2021-2022) and advises the current President and Vice-president. (http://www.sepadomes.org)

  Albury has spoken around the country and internationally on various astronomical topics, including the challenges and opportunities for public interest in astronomy and astronomical outreach.

  Lastly, Albury has a very supportive family in his wife Kandra and three children Drea, Myra and Bryce; without whom none of this would be possible.

  
  

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• AAC Monthly Meeting

  • When
    13 Sep 2022
  •  
    7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
  • Location
    Kika Silva Pla Planetarium & Zoom

  Register

  Agenda:
  

  7:00 - 7:15 General Meeting & Announcements
  7:15 - 7:30 Short topic presentation by a club member

  7:30 - 7:45 Refreshment break

  7:45 - Public Presentation

  
  

  Speaker:

  Tim Dunn

  NASA Launch Director

  Launch Services Program 

  NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center

  

  Topic: NASA’s Launch Support Program and Astronomy

  Abstract: 

  The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) was an American lunar science mission which used high-quality gravitational field mapping of the Moon to determine its interior structure. The Mars Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander continues to study the deep interior of the planet Mars. The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) is an asteroid-study that is to return a sample to Earth in 2023. Three high visibility NASA missions that we all know about, but have you ever considered the complexities associated with getting these missions into space in the first place? Tim Dunn will provide an overview of NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) planning, directing and implementation of these three launch campaigns.

  About the Speaker:

  Tim Dunn is the NASA Launch Director for the LSP at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He is responsible for planning, implementing and directing launch campaigns and countdowns of science and robotic spacecraft for NASA-managed launch vehicle services.
  
  As an Air Force officer he served as a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite analysis officer at the GPS Master Control Station in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He then became a Titan IV Launch Controller at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), directing all spacecraft mission planning and launch campaign activities. He served on launch teams successfully launching eight Titan IV missions in a three-year period.
  
  Dunn then worked for The Boeing Company as avionics engineer at CCAFS. He was a launch-day guidance engineer and performed guidance testing for 48 Delta II and Delta III rockets. He worked on crews launching USAF, NASA and commercial spacecraft, notably the Mars Pathfinder, Stardust, Iridium, Globalstar and numerous GPS missions.
  
  In 2000, Dunn joined NASA and the LSP as a Delta II avionics and flight controls engineer. His precise monitoring ensured 100 percent mission success for 10 NASA missions in a three-year period, most notably Genesis, Aqua, MER-A, MER-B and SIRTF. In 2003, he became the NASA Delta II vehicle systems engineer. He led NASA's Delta II launch team in assuring technical flight readiness for 17 high-profile NASA missions including MESSENGER, Deep Impact, NOAA-N, Dawn and Kepler.
  
  In addition to his full-time job, from 1996 to 2007 Dunn served in the Florida Air National Guard as a Range Operations Commander and flight commander during Eastern Range (ER) launches. He led the 22-member unit operating the ER's mobile telemetry system.
  
  In 2009, Dunn became LSP's certification manager. He led the multi-disciplined technical team planning LSP's vehicle certification for NASA's next generation of rockets. He authored the Certification Implementation Strategy and developed the process for contractors to present vehicle qualification data. In 2011, Dunn was selected to be LSP's launch director and has led the NASA launch team in numerous successful missions notably the GRAIL lunar mission, Jason-3, OSIRIS-Rex, and the Mars InSight lander.
  
  Dunn has received USAF, Boeing and NASA individual performance and group achievement awards for his work on over 115 missions launched from Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.
  
  He earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering in 1986 from the University of Alabama and a Master of Science in space operations from the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton, Ohio, in 1992.

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• AAC Monthly Meeting

  • When
    11 Oct 2022
  •  
    7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
  • Location
    Kika Silva Pla Planetarium & Zoom

  Register

  Agenda:
  

  7:00 - 7:15 General Meeting & Announcements
  7:15 - 7:30 Short topic presentation by a club member

  7:30 - 7:45 Refreshment break

  7:45 - Public Presentation

  
  

  Speaker:

  
  

  Jerry Cheney

  
  

  Alachua Astronomy Club
  

  
  

  

  
  

  Topic: Planetary Nebulae 

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• AAC Monthly Meeting

  • When
    8 Nov 2022
  •  
    7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
  • Location
    Kika Silva Pla Planetarium & Zoom

  Register

  Agenda:
  

  7:00 - 7:15 General Meeting & Announcements
  7:15 - 7:30 Short topic presentation by a club member

  7:30 - 7:45 Refreshment break

  7:45 - Public Presentation

  Speaker: James Albury

  Planetarium Director and host of the YouTube Series "The Sky Above Us"
  
  

  
  

  
  
  Topic: Winter Stars

  About the Speaker:

  James C. Albury grew up in Miami, FL where he started volunteering at the Miami Museum of Science and Space Transit Planetarium at the of age 14. He began by helping with ushering, but by age 15, he began working part-time as a console operator for the planetarium. Albury enjoyed astronomy and the planetarium environment so much, that he stayed with the Miami Science Museum until age 22 when he moved away to college.

  In 1988, Albury relocated to Gainesville, FL to pursue a degree in Astronomy from the University of Florida. He graduated in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science in Astronomy and pursued post-baccalaureate studies in astronomy shortly thereafter.

  Careers in astronomy being what they were, Albury worked from 1993 - 2007 for UF's Office of Academic Technology and then as a manager with Lifestyle Family Fitness in Jacksonville, FL from 2007 - 2009. In 2009, Albury was able to professionally return to his first love (Astronomy) when he became the director of the Kika Silva Pla Planetarium at Santa Fe College. He has produced numerous planetarium shows in the 11 years that he has been the planetarium’s director.

  Albury was also a co-host with Dean Regas of the internationally syndicated PBS show “Star Gazers” (the world’s only weekly television program on naked-eye astronomy). Albury and Regas hosted the show together from October 2011 to November 2019. In February 2020, Albury launched his own astronomy series on YouTube titled “The Sky Above Us”. Each episode gives viewers a sneak-peak at the celestial events, planets and constellations that are visible in the sky during the coming weeks. (http://www.theskyaboveus.org)

  Between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020, Albury served as President of the Southeastern Planetarium Association (SEPA); a professional organization for the support of planetaria and staff in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and all U.S. Territories off the southeastern coast of the U.S. He currently serves on the SEPA Executive Council as Past-president (2021-2022) and advises the current President and Vice-president. (http://www.sepadomes.org)

  Albury has spoken around the country and internationally on various astronomical topics, including the challenges and opportunities for public interest in astronomy and astronomical outreach.

  Lastly, Albury has a very supportive family in his wife Kandra and three children Drea, Myra and Bryce; without whom none of this would be possible.

  
  

  Show details