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General Meeting – February 2018
February 2, 2018 @ 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
6:30 pm – Introductory Presentation
Title: The Latest On The Astronomical League
Presenter: Douglas Smith, Observing Program Coordinator for The Astronomical League
Douglas Smith will give a brief history of the Astrological League; one of the largest amateur astronomy organizations in the world. Learn the latest about its benefits, resources, and services, as well as a review of the 50 or so observing programs available at this time.
7:30 pm – Main Presentation
Title: CCD Photometry from Inside the Light Dome – Leisure Time Activity for a Retired Engineer
Presenter: Tom Polakis became an amateur astronomer on the night of the 1977 Perseid meteor shower. He is a Contributing Editor for Astronomy Magazine. His main interests are astronomical travel, visual observing, and all types of photography.
In the past few years, Tom has actively pursued photometry with his CCD imaging equipment in Tempe. During that time, he has determined rotation periods of asteroids, measured brightness and colors of eclipsing binary and pulsating variable stars, and created light curves of exoplanets and an active quasar along the way. During the first half of Tom’s presentation, he will describe the fundamentals of photometry, his equipment and acquisition of images, and data reduction. Then Tom will show examples of his work to illustrate how measuring something as simple as the variation of light and color teaches us much about stellar and solar system astronomy.