Co-Hosting with KikaSilva Pla Planetarium – Santa Fe College
AAC volunteers are invited to set up telescopes in the courtyard in front of the Planetarium starting at 6:30 pm.
Sunset is at 7:14 pm, moon rise is at 1:16 pm, crosses the meridian at 6:22 pm @ 32.8 °, 37.9% illumination.
Will email a GO or NO GO by noon the day of event to registrants. Will also post on website.
Event coordinator contact Lisa Eager @ lisa.eager@alachuaastronomyclub.org
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, PhD, OD
Alachua Astronomy Club
Topic: Planetary Nebulae
Abstract:
Planetary nebulae are among the most beautiful and interesting objects to be viewed by amateur astronomers. They are relatively small emission nebulae, representing the death throes of solar mass sized stars. They are misnamed, however, since they are unrelated to planets. We will explore the origin and structure of these objects and their abundance and distribution in the Milky Way. We also will discuss how to best view and photograph them.
About the Speaker:
Jerry Cheney grew up in southeast Texas. He earned his BS in Biology from Lamar University in 1976 and went on to earn his PhD in Biological Oceanography from the MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography in 1981. He then accepted a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he met and married his lovely wife, Marianne. They have two sons, Michael, an industrial engineer in Tampa, and Chris, currently in his final year of Pharmacy School at UF.
Dr. Cheney taught oceanography at the college level and continued his studies of the distribution of zooplankton in the North Atlantic, but after ten years he decided to change careers to become an optometrist. He graduated from the New England College of Optometry in 1994. The family moved to Florida in 1997 and eventually settled in Ocala, where Dr. Cheney practiced for fifteen years. He had the good fortune to be able to retire in 2014.
Dr. Cheney always had an interest in astronomy, and being a scientist by general nature and training, he has taken up astronomy as hobby in retirement He joined the Alachua Astronomy Club in 2015 and has served in the club’s administration for many years, including as president from 2017 to 2019. He teaches science courses, including astronomy, through Senior Learners in Ocala.
Speaker: James Albury
Planetarium Director and host of the YouTube Series "The Sky Above Us"
Topic: Winter Stars
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.
