|
Recent Meeting
Speakers
 In
August 2010,
Dr. James
Green
(CU-Boulder)
presented a
richly
illustrated
program on
the "last"
Hubble
servicing
mission in
2009 and his
team's work
on the
Cosmic
Origins
Spectrograph,
including
some
fascinating
preliminary
findings.
In
July 2010,
Herman
Bender
took us back
thousands of
years, to
explore
archeological
evidence of
the Native
Americans'
understanding
of astronomy
and attempts
to connect
it to their
lives.
Contact him
at
ashco@charter.net
if you would
like a copy
of his
presentation.
DAS
EBoard
member and
enthusiastic
solar
observer
Tim Pimentel
provided
information
on solar
observing
safety,
equipment,
and targets
at the June
2010
meeting.
Michael
Carroll,
a prominent
space
artist,
discussed
"The Seventh
Landing,"
his new book
on manned
lunar
exploration,
at the May
2010.
Steve
Solon
entertained
and informed
us at the
April 2010
meeting
with
"Picture
This,"
a discussion
of his
personal
journey as
an imager
and
a
demonstration
of
how to turn
raw images
into
finished
works using
popular
image
processing
software.
CU-Boulder
professor
John Bally
mesmerized
attendees at
the
March 27th
Spring
Banquet
with his
retelling of
the "big
bang"
creation
story to
account for
multi-verses
and cosmic
natural
selection
via an
abundance
and variety of
black holes
-- some of
which could
be created
by
intelligent
civilizations.
DU's
Jennifer
Hoffman
presented in
February
2010,
on
"The Aspherical
Universe,"
discussing ways
that stars interact
with their
environments
throughout their
lifetimes and
introducing some of
the observational
and computational
tools astronomers
use to probe these
interactions.
On January
27th, 2010 Dr.
Suzanne Metlay
intriqued 75
attendees
with the
amateur's
role in
protecting
Earth from
near earth
objects,
identifying
space debris
and
discovering
new objects
in
"Your Eyes on the
Sky – NEOs,
Satellites &
More" Download
Presentation
(PDF)
2009
At the
November
2009 Shown
'n Tell,
Carla Swartz
returned to
the DAS
for a day,
and provided
a wonderful
presentation
on her
activities
at Griffith
Observatory
and Mt.
Wilson.
Norm
Rosling and
Ivan Geisler
amazed the
crowd with
some low
tech binos
and
refractors.
Aaron Reid
detailed the
complex
process of
restoring
Chamberlin
Observatory
to its
former
splendor at
the October
2009
meeting.
Mark
Bottorff
presented
“The
Interstellar
Medium; or
the Junk
Between the
Stars.” at
the July
2009
meeting.
At
the June
2009
meeting,
Laura Ellen
Dafoe,
formerly of
Lockheed
Martin and
the
University
of Arizona's
Lunar and
Planetary
Lab,
described
the final
findings
resulting
from data
collected by
the Descent
Imager/Spectral
Radiometer
(DISR) on
Saturn's
moon, Titan.
Mr. Keith
Gleason,
manager of
CU's
Sommers-Bauch
observatory,
enlightened
us on the history of
astronomy in
Colorado at the
May 2009
meeting,
with a focus
on Native
American
observations.
In April
2009, DAS
Member
Philip Good
explained
the
complexities
managing the
Mars
Renaissance
Orbiter's
image of the
Phoenix
lander while
the MRO was
soft landing
on the
surface of
Mars in
2008.
Dr. Roger Clark
used his
close-ups of
fighting
Grizzly
Bears to
illustrate
controversies
associated
with the
research
described in
his
presentation
“Composition,
Geology and Origin
of Saturn’s
Rings and Satellite
Surfaces; Highlights
from the
Cassini
Mission"
at the DAS
Spring
Banquet
Dr.
Doug Duncan
entertained
us at the
February
2009 meeting
with his
stories of
memorable
trips to
eclipses and
the Northern
Lights, as
well as an
exciting new
teaching
technique
using
feedback and
interactive
technology
to stimulate
student-teacher
interaction.
Watch
VIDEO
At the
January 2009
Meeting,
DAS student
member Naomi
Pequette
presented on
Archeoastronomy.
2008
At the
December
2008 Holiday
Potluck,
astrophotographer
Bryan R.
White
introduced
his new book
and "Prelude
Lake"
3-D
multimedia
program
of aurorae
images.
DAS member
Bryan
Wilburn
shared his
journey
through the
wilds of
astrophotography
in September
2008.
Dr. Suzanne
Traub Metlay
gave us the
rundown on
Mercury
Messenger in
August 2008
Dr.
Mark
Bottorff
presented
the evidence
for the
existence of
Dark Matter
and
discussed
some
possibilities
for what it
might
consist of
at the July,
2008
meeting.
Stephanie
Pahl
discussed
the
mysteries of
the Analemma
at the June,
2008 general
meeting.
Chuck
Carlson
provided
some
"Heavenly
Intrigue,"
with a
discussion
of theories
about the
death of
Tycho Brahe
at the
April, 2008
meeting
Bryan White
presented
his latest
digital, 3-dimensional
astronomical
images,
including
his aurora
pictures, at
the DAS
banquet in
March, 2008.
David
Grinspoon,
DMNS,
an
internationally
known
Planetary
Scientist
who is
funded by
the ESA to
conduct
interdisciplinary
research,
spoke
on the
Venus
Express
Mission
at the February 2008
meeting, which was
simulcast on Second
Life.
Mike
Carroll
captivated
the general
meeting
audience in
January 2008
with his
beautiful
and
astronomically
accurate
space art
and his
knowledgeable
presentation
on "Alien
Volcanoes"
in
the Solar
System
2007
Show and
Tell (November 2007)
Imaging
presentations by
Bryan Wilburn and
Joe Gafford, and a
look at Ivan Geisler's
remounted
5-inch
telescope.
Robert Bruner,
Denver Museum of
Nature and Science,
entertained us with
a fascinating (and
only slightly
expurgated)
presentation on
Greek Mythology and
the Constellations
at the October 2007
meeting
Dr. Richard McCray,
University of
Colorado (retired)
presented
"Supernova 1987A
Revisited," showing
and discussing the
latest images and
data from the most
recent nearby
supernova, at the
August 2007
meeting.
In
July 2007, Max
Moe, University of
Colorado,
presented a
talk called
"The
Evolution of
Planetary Nebulae"
In
June 2007, Dr.
Mark Bottorff,
Southwestern
University,
spoke on various
creative and
educational ways of
observing the moon
in his presentation
"A Novice Lunatic's
View of the Moon."
In
May 2007, Dr.
Dimitri Klebe of the
Denver Museum of
Nature and Science
described the
development and
capabilities of an
All Sky Infrared
Visible Analyzer (ASIVA)
he developed for an
observatory in
Chile.
Dr. John Bally,
University of
Colorado - Boulder,
gave an exciting and
richly illustrated
presentation on
The Birth of Stars
and Planets at
the April 2007
meeting
Dr. John Stevens,
Director of
Development,
Lockheed Martin
Space Systems,
presented at the
2007 DAS Banquet in
March 2007 on NASA's
Orion Program and
the Crew Exploratory
Vehicle
Dr Daniel Baker,
University of
Colorado, Boulder,
spoke in February
2007 about space
weather and its
effects on human
technology
Dr. Mark Bottorff
, Southwestern
University,
presented in
January, 2007 on
Active Galaxies: The
most powerful
engines in the
universe.
2006
DAS member Dr.
Roger Clark
presented at the
September 8th, 2006
General Meeting on
his cutting-edge
work with the NASA
Cassini mission
Visual and Infrared
Mapping Spectrometer
(VIMS) team.
Brian D. Warner,
of the PDO,
discussed ways that
amateur astronomers
can collect vital
astronomical data on
August 11th, 2006.
Bryan White,
Nitescapes,
Presented beautiful
new 3D Slides of
Aurora and Other
Phenomena at the
July 7, 2006
meeting.
Dr. John Spencer,
Southwest Research
Institute, spoke
at the May 2006 DAS
meeting on the
recent discovery of
Water Spouts on
Saturn's moon
Enceladus.
In
April 2006,
Dr. Robert Stencel
and Aaron Reid
discussed issues
surrounding the
battle for dark
night skies.
January 2006
Laura Ellen Dafoe,
Lockheed Martin.
Discussed
engineering aspects
of Titan Exploration
by the Descent
Imager/Spectral
Radiometer on the
Huygens Probe. |
ur
September speaker,
Ms. Jamie Lomax, is
a graduate student
at the University of
Denver (DU) in the
Astronomy and
Physics Department.
She will tell us of
the research she is
doing on Beta Lyrae,
using
spectropolarimetry
to study binary
stars. Beta Lyrae is
now in a complex
phase of its
evolution due to
mass transfer
between the two
stars of the system.
In addition, the
system has formed an
accretion disc and
jets because of this
transfer. The star
is a well-studied
eclipsing binary,
but has yet to be
resolved or well
understood. Since
polarized light can
reveal important
geometrical
information, its use
provides new
information about
the system without
the need to resolve
it. 
All
attendees are
invited to a
reception at
