DAS Correspondence:Denver Astronomical Societyc/o Larry Brooks3686 South Depew, #8Denver, Colorado 80235
Van Nattan Scholarship FundP.O. Box 150743Lakewood, Colorado 80215-0743
Webmaster:Terry ChattertonEmail: [email protected]:Denver Observer editor, Patti KurtzStarFire Creations Unlimited(303) 948-5825The Observer is available in colorPDF format from the DAS website.
The Executive Board conducts thebusiness of the DAS at 8 P.M. at
Chamberlin Observatory. Please seethe Schedule of Events for meetingdates. All members are welcome.
www.denverastro.org
PRESIDENT’S CORNER
Public Nights are held every Tuesday and Thursday from7:00-9:00 P.M.
at Chamberlin ObservatoryCosts to non-members are: $2.00 adults, $1.00 children
Please call (303) 871-4333 for reservations.
OH MY GOSH. I saw Orion the othernight. Fall is on the way. It’s time for the warmweather observers to hurry up and get outthere before the cold weather sets in.
Hey—all you folks who do not have a tele-scope, the club has a loaner. It is a Celestron8-inch dobsonian. Members can take thescope for a month. We ask for a $200.00
cash deposit which is fullyrefunded upon return ofthe scope in good con-dition. It is equippedwith two eyepieces and
a Telrad.®The Library is open on
Tuesday and Thursday during the
NOVEMBER2 E-Board meeting, 8 P.M.9 General Meeting at Olin Hall,
DU, 7:30 P.M.—Show andTell—bring something to share.
16-18 Dark Sky Site Weekend22 Happy Thanksgiving!24 Open House (How to Buy a
Telescope)
public night hours. Members are welcome tocome in and browse and check out books. Itcan also be opened during receptions and E-board meetings. Pauline Ide has competed aninventory and it will soon be computerized.
Plans are developing for Colorado As-tronomy Day. We have some great speakers,venders, a planetarium, activities, and somegreat observing planned. If you want to vol-unteer, let Patti Kurtz know by e-mail([email protected]). If you wantto volunteer for anything else, terrific! E-mail me and let me know what area(s)you’re interested in.
The Denver Astronomical Societyhas brought together a stellar
lineup of speakers for ColoradoAstronomy Day, October 20, 2001. Fourtalented and innovative astronomers willpresent and describe theories and processesfrom the violent workings of our sun, newcosmological theories, mankind’s attemptto reach other planets, to the evolution ofour universe. In their own words, thesespeakers describe their presentations:Origins: A Universe of Process andChange—John Jeffrey Hester, Ph.D.(Keynote Speaker)
“When our remote ancestors firstlooked at the heavens, they could not helpbut notice the patterns in the sky, or theways in which those changing patterns
echoed the patterns of nature that shapedtheir lives. Little wonder, then, thatthroughout history we have sought outconnections between our existence and theheavens. . . Courtesy of wondrous tools likethe Hubble Space Telescope, we now lookat the sky and see revealed the spectacle ofthe life cycle of stars and the many other
processes that mark the continuingevolution of the Universe. It is ironic thatin the end our investigations have broughtus back to the beginning, as we answer thevery questions that originally consumedour ancestors' imaginations as they staredat the sky. Our look outward has become alook inward, as we have come tounderstand the intimate ties that link usto the stars. We are a part of the Universe—a product of process and change.”Mars: The Mystery Deepens—BentonC. Clark, Ph.D.
“As space exploration missions havestripped away the old myths of Mars, newdiscoveries have led from one paradigm toanother. Mars is a cold, rocky desert butthe evidence is mounting that it once wastruly wet, with rivers, lakes and perhapsan ocean. Even today, there may be seepsof liquid water, and the search continuesto discover active volcanoes and perhapsgeysers. The question of life is still an openone, but even before we conclusively findlife in some oasis on Mars, or its ancientremains, we will bring life to the red planet,when human exploration begins.”The New Cosmology—Erica Ellingson,Ph.D.
“The birth of modern cosmology wasmarked by the discovery of the expandinguniverse by Edwin Hubble in the early1930's. Albert Einstein's ideas about theproperties of space and time helpedformulate our understanding of theuniverse as a whole. From these discoveriescame the standard Big Bang model for thecreation and evolution of the universe. Ourdiscussion of cosmology will begin withan introduction to the Big Bang model anda review of efforts to test and refine thisstandard picture of cosmic evolution.However, the past several years havebrought stunning new results, which
Dr. John JeffreyH e s t e r
Dr. Hester uses the HubbleSpace Telescope in muchof his research. He may bebest known outside ofprofessional astronomy forthe HST image of the EagleNebula, which has becomesomething of an icon forthe HST.
Dr. BentonClark
With the MarsOdyssey spacecraftonly two days fromreaching its target,Dr. Clark will giveus an insider’s view
on why mankind continues to send missions to Mars,and what we hope to accomplish when we arrive.
The University of Denver has raisedits parking lot fees to $4.00. The Physicsand Astronomy department willsubsidized $1.50, making our cost $2.50/vehicle to park in the “O” lot duringmeetings. However, you can park on thestreet to the south of Olin Hall (Wesley)for free, and perhaps find a place on Iliff,although it’s more restrictive.
Colorado Astronomy Day Map of D.U.’sBoettcher Center and Olin Halls
DAS Members Contribute ImagesAs usual, members photograph different events, bothterrestrial and celestial, and contribute them to theincreasing archive the newsletter editor keeps forpublication in The Denver Observer. At far right, fromtop to bottom are: Comet Hale-Bopp andM34 (an open star cluster in Perseus) during thecomet’s 1997 apparition (Ron Pearson); Membersprepare for a public Open House (JohnFlemming); The Whirlpool Galaxy, a spiralGalaxy (M51) in Canes Venatici (Kiowa Observatory);and Kurt Vander Horst of Starlight Adventures,with his 30-inch Obsession telescope at RockyMountain Star Stare 2001 (Ron Pearson).
Welcome New Members!The following folks have recentlyjoined the Denver AstronomicalSociety. Welcome!
•Craig Anderson•Jan Marie Belle•Stan Burns•Glenn Frank•Janet Freeman•Mark Hoefler•Lynn Iwaniec•Danielle Link
•Roy Makrucki•Doug Nogami•Glen Nogami•Mary Nogami•Carol Price•Brad Taggart•Franklin Van Kirk•Louis Williamson
