Constellation of the Month:

Dorado and Mensa

Presenter:  Doug Smith

Doug Smith will start the night with a talk about the southern constellations Dorado and Mensa..

Main Presentation:

The Caldwell Catalog

Presenter:  Gus Gomez

For our main topic, Gus Gomez will be discussing The Caldwell Catalog.

Open to the Public:  TAAA encourages the public to join our general meetings held on the first Friday of each month.

Meeting Location: room 308 at Lunar and Planetary Labs Kuiper Space Sciences Bldg (1629 E. University Blvd.) on the University of Arizona campus. See Map

NOTE THE DIFFERENT LOCATION DETAILS AND MAP ABOVE.

6:30 pm – Introductory Presentation

Title:  ELECTIONS and Cassiopeia Observatory

Speaker:  Michael Weasner

This will be a membership meeting starting with an observatory presentation at 6:30 P.M. by Michael Weasner about the Cassiopeia Observatory* that he built and runs. Following it will be an internal business and elections meeting.

*There is an Open House at Cassiopeia Observatory for TAAA-members-only on Saturday, May 4th, at 10 A.M. Details at meeting.

7:30 pm – Main Presentation

Title:  Highlights of the OSIRIS REx Mission

Speaker:  Dolores Hill, Senior Research Specialist at Lunar & Planetary Laboratory

Dolores Hill, Senior Research Specialist at Lunar & Planetary Laboratory will present highlights of the OSIRIS REx spacecraft’s arrival at near-Earth asteroid Bennu, including some exciting discoveries.

Astronomy event supporting Marana Under the Stars. For more information, see the website:  http://www.maranaaz.gov/town-calendar/2016/4/23/camping-under-the-stars.

Constellation of the Month:

 Centaurus

Presenter:  Kay Lehman

Kay Lehman will start the night with a talk about the southern constellation Centaurus.

Main Presentation:

Astronomy and The Onion

Presenter:  Doug Smith

For our main topic, Doug Smith will be discussing Astronomy and The Onion.

6:30 pm – Introductory Presentation

Title:  Seasonal Night Sky Objects

Speaker:  Mary Turner

Mary Turner, TAAA’s appointed Chief Observer, takes us on a tour of the spring night sky. As usual in her popular talks, Mary’s uses astronomical data, images, and mythology to bring seasonal changes in the sky to life.

7:30 pm – Main Presentation

Title:  An Introduction to Slit-less Grating Spectroscopy

Speaker:  Rhode Island native and retired Astronomy and Physics Professor David Iadevaia, has taught middle school/high school physical science/physics up through university astronomy. In 1983, he became Instrument Specialist for the Echelle spectrograph at the MMT on Mt. Hopkins. The next year, he began a 30-year teaching career at Pima Community College. His accomplishments there include designing the Professor Pima Portable Planetarium Program, and establishing Pima’s East Campus Observatory, the first teaching observatory in Arizona. In 1986, he received the Tucson Trade Bureau Outstanding Faculty Award. David has been a lifelong amateur astronomer and as a retiree he’s returning to his astronomy roots.

David will present an introduction to low resolution, slit-less grating spectroscopy. He’ll begin with a brief overview of the nature of light with such concepts as Wien’s Law and the Doppler Effect as they apply to spectroscopy. Spectra taken with a slit-less grating spectroscope will be shown, along with an explanation of how to interpret the data in spectra. David will talk about the equipment needed to capture spectra, and the software available to reduce a spectrum’s data for research. A brief overview of the growing international community of spectroscopists will be included.