Next Meeting

Our next meeting is Saturday, March 30th from 7 to 9:30 PM at the CCCIA Hall. Our local Sky Watcher, Dewey Anderson, will be giving an inspiring talk entitled “Orbits: Getting Around in Space”. He’ll describe gravity, weightlessness and how orbits work, from satellites around Earth to planets around the Sun. And he’ll describe the orbital paths to get from planet to planet, e.g., Earth to Mars. This talk will be a little unusual compared to most Sky Watchers talks. As Dewey says, “Most scientific talks for the general public tend to skip the mathematics involved in the science because usually the math is too complex. But there are some very simple equations that allow some very good (approximate) calculations of orbits. If you can multiply, divide and take a square and a square root on a calculator, you can do these things yourself. You don’t have to be a scientist. But if the thought of doing math makes you break into a cold sweat, don’t worry. You can still just watch the math and see the results. No need to bring your calculator.” Dewey has degrees in mathematics, physics, computer science and a Master’s degree in astrophysics from University of Colorado at Boulder. Leonard David and John Williams will give us updates on current space missions and the latest astronomy news. After the presentations, we’ll set up our telescopes and check out some celestial objects, weather permitting. Check out our Sky Watchers Facebook page that Carolyn Collins Petersen created for us.