AstroAssembly 2016

Stephen LaFlamme held up a pair of binoculars during the summer of ’78 and “discovered” the crescent shape of Venus. This spectacle led to his lifelong passion for backyard astronomy. Reaching the point in high school where a career path had to be chosen, Stephen wanted to pursue astronomy. His Dad, who was paying for college, wanted him to be a pharmacist. So, while consuming his days counting pills for Walgreens, he spent his nights under the constellations with wonder. He designed and built a backyard dome some 25 years ago. Astrophotography rose to the forefront as local light pollution grew worse each year. Artificial light glow can be subtracted by software. A sampling of this work can be found under Universefromthebackyard on Facebook or Instagram. Stephen has many tales to share about owning meteorites, and a piece of the moon. His day spent with John Dobson. Being ‘visited’ by his deceased astronomy mentor one night at his observatory. And an amusing anecdote about a failed Astronomy Club start-up. Having retired three years ago and with no alarm clock to set, Stephen now takes full advantage of every opportunity to study the stars.

Dennis Conti earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from Purdue University. After retiring from a career in telecommunications with Hughes Network Systems, Dennis became an avid deep sky and planetary imager. He then moved on to detecting exoplanets and is the founder and currently Chair of AAVSO’s Exoplanet Section. Dennis is also heading up a collaboration of amateur astronomers around the globe who are providing ground-based observations in support of a Hubble science team’s study of some 15 exoplanets. In addition, Dennis is a member of the KELT exoplanet follow-up team, is author of “A Practical Guide to Exoplanet Observing”, has spoken at various amateur astronomy clubs and conferences on the subject, and has helped educational institutions start an exoplanet observing program at their own observatories.  Dennis lives in Annapolis, MD and from his permanent, peer-mounted telescope he is able to conduct exoplanet observations even in moderately light-polluted skies.

Mr. Norwood brings with him a lifetime of real world experience as the owner/entrepreneur of Camera Concepts and Telescope Solutions, a top retailer of Photographic and Astronomical Products based on Long Island New York, since 1985. In addition to being a veteran amateur astronomer for the past 30 years, he is considered a leading expert and a top telescope repair technician throughout the astronomical community. In addition, his experience as a guest lecturer has encompassed a wide variety of subjects including not only astronomy and photography but also musicology. Professor Norwood currently holds a Master's degree in Music History and Theory and teaches regularly at both the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and as an adjunct professor at St. John's University in New York. As such, he has made significant contributions to the vital fields of musicology and higher education. He is a tenacious and enthusiastic individual who is an active member of many non-profit organizations which are dedicated to the advancement of education in a wide variety of fields.

Scott MacNeill is the current Director of the Frosty Drew Observatory and Science Center. Scott develops all Frosty Drew campus and telescope automation, remote presentation frameworks, the frostydrew.org website, and writes about astronomy, including a weekly newsletter on astronomical happenings for the Frosty Drew community. At Brown University’s Ladd Observatory Scott performs the duties of Assistant Astronomer and operates telescopes, supervises student staff, writes astronomy imaging lab manuals, and presents the night sky to visitors. In 2020, Scott took on the role of Astronomy Labs professor at Bryant University, and is a partner in the Rhode Island Sidewalk Astronomers. He is a professional Systems and Software Engineer with roots in the open source community. In addition, Scott serves as the current CEO and Chairs the Frosty Drew Memorial Fund Board of Directors, and is a periodic astronomy correspondent to NPR, WJAR, and The Weather Channel.

Michael Rudenko is a staff member of the Minor Planet Center, located at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Minor Planet Center is the single worldwide location for receipt and distribution of positional measurements of minor planets, comets and outer irregular natural satellites of the major planets. It is responsible for the identification, designation and orbit computation for all of these objects. This involves maintaining the master files of observations and orbits, keeping track of the discoverer of each object, and announcing discoveries to the rest of the world via electronic circulars and an extensive website.  During the 1980s he undertook a visual comet hunting program, discovering three comets with the aid of a 6-inch refractor.

Dennis Conti earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from Purdue University. After retiring from a career in telecommunications with Hughes Network Systems, Dennis became an avid deep sky and planetary imager. He then moved on to detecting exoplanets and is the founder and currently Chair of AAVSO’s Exoplanet Section. Dennis is also heading up a collaboration of amateur astronomers around the globe who are providing ground-based observations in support of a Hubble science team’s study of some 15 exoplanets. In addition, Dennis is a member of the KELT exoplanet follow-up team, is author of “A Practical Guide to Exoplanet Observing”, has spoken at various amateur astronomy clubs and conferences on the subject, and has helped educational institutions start an exoplanet observing program at their own observatories.  Dennis lives in Annapolis, MD and from his permanent, peer-mounted telescope he is able to conduct exoplanet observations even in moderately light-polluted skies.