Presentation:  From Planet to Pictures

We all have seen images of each planet in our solar system until they’re ingrained in our culture’s collective psyche, but how did we get those images? In “From Planet to Pictures,” Max Lipitz will take the audience on a grand tour of the solar system, and do far more than just repeat the usual statistics about the planets, moons, asteroids, and whatever Pluto is now. Max’s presentation will be about the robotic emissaries we sent to learn about these celestial objects, the journey they undertook and the discoveries they made.

Biography: Maxmilian (Max) Lipitz could best be described as a strange amalgamation of NASA obsession, photographic prowess, and insatiable curiosity. He’s a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technologies Imaging Science Program; a highly interdisciplinary field that combines physics, math, computer science, and engineering. And whether he’s developing image processing algorithms to turn people into Simpsons characters or restoring a 31-year-old digital camera just because, Max puts his whole heart into everything he does. In the past he’s worked with Dr. Robert Kremens to develop next-generation probes (“Kremboxes”) to monitor wildfires in the thermal and visible spectrum, providing valuable data that could save thousands of lives. Currently Max works as a scientist at Tucson-based GEOST.

Astronomer of the Month:  Vesto Slipher

Presenter:  Connor Justice

Connor Justice will be presenting Vesto Slipher for our astronomer of the month.

Main Presentation:  Asteroids and Minor Planets

Presenter:  Pete Hermes

Pete Hermes will be giving our main topic on Asteroids and Minor Planets.

Astronomer of the Month:  Carl Sagan

Presenter:  Stephen Ferris

This month Stephen Ferris will be presenting Carl Sagan for our astronomer of the month.

Main Presentation:  Dark Matter

Presenter:  Doug Smith

Doug Smith will be presenting Dark Matter for our main topic.

Presentation:  Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Jupiter after thirty years: A retrospective of what happened and what we learned

On March 23, 1993, Carolyn and Gene Shoemaker and David H. Levy discovered a comet that had been fragmented into more than 21 pieces. Two months later they learned that the comet would collide with Jupiter. The collision happened between July 16 and July 21, 1994, thirty years ago. David H. Levy’s presentation will offer a retrospective of what happened, and what humanity learned about comets, about Jupiter, and about the origin of life.

Biography: TAAA member, David H Levy, is arguably one of the most enthusiastic and famous amateur astronomers of our time. Although he’s never taken an astronomy class, he has written over three dozen books, has written for three astronomy magazines and has appeared on television programs featured on the Discovery and the Science Channels. Among David’s accomplishments are 23 comet discoveries, (the most famous being Shoemaker-Levy 9), a few hundred shared asteroid discoveries, an Emmy for the documentary Three Minutes to Impact, five honorary doctorates in Science and a PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2010) which combines astronomy and English Literature. Currently, he is the editor of the web magazine Sky’s Up!, and has a monthly column, Skyward, in the local Vail Voice newspaper. David continues to hunt for comets and asteroids, and lectures worldwide.