About

Meetings

Star Party Schedule

Star Party Instructions

Directions

Links

Meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month at 7:30 pm at the Schenectady Museum (Directions),
except in August, when we have a star party at the Landis Arboretum.

Meeting Cancellations
In the winter months bad weather can cause cancellation of our meeting.  The Schenectady Museum announces closings on the radio, television, and so on.  (Stations also post their closing announcements on their web pages.)   If this happens our meeting will be canceled.  Heavy snow or ice starting in the afternoon may also force us to cancel.  Call the the museum at 382-7890 if you are in doubt.

2011 Meetings

Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 7:30 pm at the Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium

Tom Field will host a Webinar on spectroscopy for amateur astronomers.

Spectroscopy is the art of analyzing the colorful rainbow spectrum that a device like a prism produces.  Spectroscopy is the primary research tool used in modern astronomical research.  However, until the last few years, spectroscopy has been too expensive and difficult for all but a few amateurs.  Today, though, new tools make spectroscopy accessible to almost all of us.  You no longer need a PhD, dark skies, long exposures, or enormous aperture! With your current telescope and camera (or even a simple web cam) you can now easily capture exciting spectra, including the atmosphere on Uranus or the red shift a quasar. This talk, with lots of interesting examples, will show you what it's all about, and how you can get started.

Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 7:30 pm at the Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium

Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 7:30 pm at the Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium

Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 7:30 pm at the Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium

Past Meetings

Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Dr. Mark Changizi
"Alien Vision Revolution." "I will describe research that has led to a new understanding of the function of color, binocular vision, illusions and the shapes of writing over history. By understanding the design principles underlying these visual phenomena, we have a basis for speculating on how aliens are likely to see. In particular, I will argue that aliens will perceive the same kinds of illusions and have writing that looks like those found here on Earth, but that they will not have our variety of primate color vision, nor have our forward-facing eyes."

Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Dr. Rose Finn, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Siena College
"Clusters of Galaxies:  Life in Galactic Cities"
Clusters of galaxies are the most massive structures in the Universe.  They can contain thousands of galaxies, large amounts of hot X-ray emitting gas, and even more dark matter.  I will review our current understanding of how clusters form, and I will highlight some of the remaining mysteries yet to be solved.  In particular, my area of research explores if and how the cluster environment affects the evolution of member galaxies.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Annual "Share Your Astrophotos, and Winter Solstice Party"

Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Alan French (and a panel of experts)
"Almost Everything You Wanted to Know About Eyepieces"  The talk will include basic eyepiece characteristics and their importance, basic designs, selecting eyepieces for a telescope, and his perspective on eyepieces, their importance, and the difficulty in making objective comparisons.  Additional comments will be provided by some other club members, and your questions will be welcomed.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Various club members. 
"Member Potpourri"  
Club members will talk about their favorite celestial object, a book they've read recently, or an eyepiece or telescope they are fond of.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Meteorologist Steve Caporizzo

Tuesday, April 20, 2010 (snowed out in February and rescheduled)
Various club members 
"Member Potpourri"  
Club members will talk about their favorite celestial object, a book they've read recently, or an eyepiece or telescope they are fond of.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Dr. John Delano
"Astrobiology: The search for life beyond the Earth"

We are very pleased to have Dr. John Delano as our speaker once again.  Dr. Delano's talk will be "Astrobiology: The search for life beyond the Earth."

"Questions in astrobiology are being explored by teams of scientists in astrophysics, biochemistry, geochemistry, and geophysics.  How common are habitable planets?  How are complex biomolecules formed on initially lifeless planets?  What processes and environments are required for planets to become habitable?  What instruments are needed by robotic spacecraft to detect either living or fossilized microbial life?  These are some of the fundamental questions where substantial progress is being made.  In addition to results from NASA's Kepler spacecraft that are anxiously awaited bearing on the presence of Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars, these are exciting times!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Sue French
"A Few of My Favorite Things"

Long-time amateur astronomers collect a wealth of favorite sites over the years.  These celestial wonders may be treasured for their beauty, for their nature, or even the circumstances under which they were seen.  Sue will share some of her most memorable deep-sky observations, garnered over the last three decades. Sue is an avid deep sky observer and a Contributing Editor for Sky & Telescope, writing their monthly "Deep Sky Wonders" column.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Various club members
"Member Potpourri"

Our February "Member Potpourri" went very well and was well received, so we're going to do another for the July 20 meeting. Perhaps you have something to share with the club - a review of a book or an accessory, some favorite targets in the night sky, a memorable telescope or night of observing, or a trip or convention report. Maybe you have some insight into a specific aspect of astronomy or some news in the world of astronomy other club members would enjoy hearing about.

Please let me know if you have something to share at the July meeting. (Please include an estimate of the time required.) We are looking for several talks that take from five to fifteen minutes.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Meeting and Star Party at Landis Arboretum

Our August meeting is held in the Meeting House field at Landis Arboretum.  Weather permitting, there will be a star party after the meeting.  We generally socialize and check out everyone's telescopes if the weather is nice.  If the weather is poor we do a variety of short topics in the Meeting House.  You are also welcome to bring items for the "August Swap Shop."

Tuesday, September 21, 7:30 pm at the Schenectady Museum
Dr. Harry Ringermacher speaking on
"The State of the Universe."

The universe continues to amaze and provoke.  You see recent discoveries in every popular venue.  Black holes in the center of every galaxy, "dark matter", "dark energy" everywhere and we don't know what it is except it's 96% of the stuff out there and we're the dregs.  Extra dimensions and multiple universes.  Science fiction, reality?  You will get the latest scoop along with pretty Hubble images and the latest incredible super-computer simulations.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 7:30 at the GE Theater at Proctors
Our October Meeting, by Alan French

The second of Dudley Observatory's Skywatch Lectures, Alex Filippenko's talk "Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe," coincides with our October 19 meeting.  Although we try to avoid moving our meeting, this marvelous opportunity is far too good to pass up.  We will not be holding our regular meeting at the Schenectady Museum, but will be meeting in conjunction with the Skywatch Lecture at the GE Theater at Proctor's.

The Skywatch Lecture begins at 7:30 pm.  Tickets are $11 for general admission, $8 for members of Dudley Observatory, and $6 for students.  We strongly urge you to support the Skywatch Lecture series by purchasing tickets, although we will have a limited number of complimentary tickets available for AAAA members.  Your support, through the purchase of tickets, will help insure the success of this year's Skywatch Lectures and its continuation in years to come.  If you do require a complimentary ticket, and your dues are up to date, see me before 7:20 pm outside the entrance to the GE Theater.

Dr. Filippenko is a Professor of Astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley.  He has produced four astronomy courses for The Teaching Company and is the coauthor, with Jay Pasachoff, of an award winning textbook, "Cosmos: Astronomy in the New Millennium."    He is the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor in the Physical Sciences and has won several major awards for his research.  He has also received top teaching awards and has been voted "Best Professor" on campus six times.  I hope you will join me, and support the Skywatch lectures, at this exciting program!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Sue French, author of Sky & Telescope's "Deep Sky Wonders" column
"Winter Sky Wonders"

"For many of us, this is the coldest time of the year - but it also harbors the most brilliant stars and some of the most spectacular wonders of the deep-sky. They include nebulae, clouds of gas and dust either glowing by their own light or reflecting the light of nearby stars; clusters of stars, both old and young; galaxies far beyond our own Milky Way; multiple stars of surprising beauty; and variable stars that challenge our notion of a constant sky. And if that's not enough, we also have intricate Jupiter in our evening sky and awe-inspiring Saturn in the morning! We will tour the brightest and best telescopic delights of the winter sky, and each object will be paired with a nearby but less-known wonder to tempt the observer with more experience."

February 17, 2011
Alan French
"Rediscovering the Telescope"

Debates about telescopes are popular on the Internet and on cloudy nights at conventions.  The pros and cons of various designs and features get debated endlessly and minor points generate lengthy discussions.   Manufacturers tout the advantages of their products and emphasize the disadvantages of their competition.  In the end, the amateur often winds up with a distorted view of telescopes, and selecting a telescope becomes more confusing than necessary.

We'll rediscover the telescope, uncovering what is really important in how they perform under the night sky.  The program will also provide a simple, non-mathematical explanation of what  determines whether a refractor is an achromat, with some visible out of focus color, or an apochromat, with no obvious out of focus color.

Alan's talk is sponsored by Flurry Astro Innovations.

April 21, 2011
"Cosmic Collisions" video on the Big Screen

Thursday, May 19, 2011
Retired Professor of Physics William Carragan on "Maya Astronomy." - postponed

Thursday, June 16 , 2011 at 7:30 pm at the Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium
Retired Professor of Physics William Carragan on "Maya Astronomy."

The Maya calendar has been in the news, so join us in learning the real story of their calendar.  The talk will cover the structure of the Maya year, comprising interlocking cycles of 200 day (tzolkin) and 365 days (haab) and the long count (400-year period, 20-year period, 360-day year, 20-day period).  There will also be a brief outline of Maya history and architecture, and their observational resources and techniques for determining the solar and lunar almanacs.

Thursday, July 21 , 2011 at 7:30 pm at the Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium
"Member Potpourri," a variety of short talks by members of the Albany Area Amateur Astronomers.

Thursday, August 18 , 2011 at 7:30 pm at the Landis Arboretum in Esperance

Thursday, September 15 , 2011 at 7:30 pm at the Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium

Retired Professor of Physics George Tucker on "Keeping Namibian Skies Dark (The Proposed NamibRand Dark Sky Reserve)."

Dr. Tucker has spent time under the exceptionally dark skies in Namibia in southern Africa.  He will share some of the astrophotographs he took in Namibia, talk about a proposal to preserve this dark sky resource, and share his visits to the Southern Africa Large Telescope (SALT) and to Cape Town Observatory.