AstroAssembly 2007

A multi-media presentation about Skyscrapers

Historical film footage of Skyscrapers activities

A multi-media presentation about Skyscrapers

(“Dr. Flush” a former engineer for NASA), Explorations and demonstrations of NASA technology

Move over Schmidt-Cassegrains. It’s time to make room for the next generation Dobsonian! Traditional telescopes have long been the de-facto standard from research to astrophotography given their proven mounts and drive systems. Over the past year Todd has converted and engineered an 18” Dobsonian into a fully robotic scanning telescope designed to patrol for supernovae, perform detailed astrophotography and even measure and confirm the transits of multiple exoplanets! Todd will share the design and engineering of this new capability, how it integrates with today’s new technologies and the construction of an observatory to support all operations. Lastly we will view the results from recent images as well as several research projects.

The talk will center on Leopold Trouvelot's contributions to astronomy, particularly his career as an astronomical artist and illustrator. Despite his legendary skills with a paintbrush, this French expatriate dabbled in another subject with less success but with much more lasting impact. In an effort to establish a domestic silk industry, Trouvelot introduced the gypsy moth caterpillar to North America. And, as they say, the rest is history.

A digital program developed by Mike that anyone can do. It covers 116 zones through the Milky Way from Scutum around to Gemini.

Recent studies and ongoing observations are revealing that there are impact flashes easily observed and recorded by amateurs. In addition, however, there is evidence that stored gas hidden deep within the Moon suddenly let loose and blew away the areas of the impact-battered regolith. This is consistent with findings from recent lunar orbiters "sniffing" for radiogenic tracers that went along for the ride. Amateurs now have access to very sophisticated digital recording devices and can easily observe the Moon, while professional astronomers go for deep space. Consequently, very intriguing possibilities and opportunities emerge at the dawn of a new era in lunar exploration.