Ian's Year-End Review 2019 Snapshots of Some of the People

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Ian's Year-End Review 2019 Snapshots of Some of the People Ian’s Year-End Review 2019 Snapshots of some of the people (and events) in my world. One of the first events of the year… Looking in on a spectacular exhibition of Aboriginal women artists from Australia – at the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia – with Kaoru Kimura A.A.S. “Dinner for Dome-heads” American Astronomical Society Planetarium nerds descend on Seattle January, 2019 < Alumni from Calgary Centennial Planetarium meet every month. Andrew Findlay, Bill and Celeste Peters, me, Rob Marich, Bob Nelson - and Bob’s yer uncle. Kaoru tracks a partial eclipse of the sun on a remotely-controlled telescope. > Bill and Celeste show off Bill’s big contribution to Calgary culture, TELUS SPARK – Science Centre. > < My friend, John Hanson - CFRN-TV Historian in Edmonton (taken at TELUS World of Science - Edmonton). At Kanes Harley Diner, Calgary.> Three museum veterans… Me, David Rodger and Wes Wenhardt – at the North Vancouver Museum. Wes is the director. My Albanian friend Elvira Hoxha visiting Vancouver… We are trying to get a planetarium built in Tirana, capital of Albania. Noted science fiction writer Robert Sawyer - Three friends of mine all after a pleasant dinner, addressing the connected through our Vancouver Centre, Royal Astronomical support of Seva Canada Society of Canada. > overseas assistance charity. Lunch whenever possible (not often enough)… Michel Maurer, Susan Erdmann and Peter Nash. A good friend, Gil Biderman – my technical guru – and his special and wonderful partner, Shelley Twist. Me - arriving for an event marking the 50th anniversary of the H.R. MacMillan Planetarium in Vancouver. 2019 was also the 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon. Gil’s 50th > On a trip through the Rocky Mountains, Kaoru and I drop in on my long- time treasured friends, Heather Walter and Pat McCloskey, in Canmore, Alberta. Jim & Hope Marchbank visiting Vancouver… Lunch with Ron Pears, me and Phil Aldrich. < Lunch with extended family and interesting friends is always an event to look forward to - at Leigh and Evelyn Palmer’s lakeside home in Burnaby, suburban Vancouver. Visiting here are Frank and Patricia Potter from California. With Ryan Wyatt – Director, Morrison Planetarium, SFO. < Meeting in Vancouver – with George Jacob, museum guru & author. < What are the chances? Meeting in the vast Tokyo subway system… J-Walt & Margaret Adamczyk and Masaru Hirohashi. A slightly raucous Japanese evening out - with Mie Kosaka, Kaoru, Ryan Wyatt, Hiromitsu Kohsaka, Carter Emmart, Eric Aron and Keiko Owatari. With Mie Kosaka. On another trip to Japan later in the year, I look in on an IAU Commission on Diversity and Inclusiveness at NAOJ – National Astronomical Observatory of Japan – at Mitaka. At the closing banquet, astronomer Hitoshi Yamaoka, gave a spirited NOH Theatre performance. At a special pre-conference planning session in Edmonton (in anticipation of the IPS International planetarium conference in 2020) a group of vendors meets in front of the old Queen Elizabeth Planetarium – which is being renovated in time for the big event. Steve Savage, Frank Florian, Ursula Pattloch, me, Volkmar Schorcht, Kaoru Kimura (President-Elect of IPS!), Mark Webb, Kevin Scott, Scott Huggins, Mark SubbaRao (current IPS President) and Karrie Berglund. < A summer picnic at Jericho Beach in Vancouver with the Ballantynes – Robert, Elizabeth, Cimarron, Morgan – and Morgan’s two little ones, Rafe and Wrenna. Played frisbee for the first time in 20 years. With scientist and noted author, Chris Gainor, National President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC). He conducted an interview with me at Simon Fraser University about early days of planetarium history in Canada. IMERSA gal Monica Bolles visiting Vancouver. Lunch with Michel Maurer. We volunteered together At a party at Michel’s house, fellow amateur with SEVA Canada – and have remained friends. astronomer Ron Jerome with his friend Dale; Michel yaks with doctor/ artist Linda Harth. Shawn Laatsch with Dexter and Luna. Hardly spoiled! Dinner guests Laura and John Meader. John and I both admire each other’s nature photography. On our way – this time, to Bangor, Maine. On the wonderful Orono Boardwalk. Visiting Shawn Laatsch at home - in Maine. Shawn cooks up a marvellous lobster & pasta dinner. Shawn’s planetarium – at University of Maine at Orono (designed by Bill Chomik). > It doesn’t get much more restful and relaxing than this! At Acadia National Park, State of Maine < Bangor, Maine. The Maine seashore; at the same time, daughter Heather and family were at the seashore in Prince Edward Island, also eating lobster. So near and yet so far! Swooping into New York at dusk – heading for the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island, N.Y. – for this year’s edition of LIPS (Live Interactive Planetarium Symposium). Cradle of Aviation Museum < Dani LeBlanc. Mark SubbaRao > Keith Davis, Dayna Thompson and Rabbi Sheeya Hertz Ostreicher. Andy Kreyche. > Mark Webb. > < Patty Toth Seaton. Lower right, Sharon Ryba-Pertz, Bridget Nice reunion. Browne, Kaoru and me. > Karrie Berglund conducts… Human H-R Diagram. We are all connected. > < My friend Robin Sip and I play hooky from the GSCA conference in Victoria, B.C., and attend a special Arctic presentation at the Bateman Centre. Tim Archer - sound man. > GSCA President – Alan Nursall Industry veteran Mary Jane Dodge. Party gathering in the Fairmont Derek Threinen – in from the cold. EmpressKitsonas, Hotel, Victoria right). (Manos “Big Shoe” Award: Mike Lutz! Dianne Carlson - with Mike Lutz. Bob Perkins with Paul Wild. Kai Santavuori and Manos Kitsonas. Not exactly a private jet… but a good way to get to and from Victoria; Alan Nursall emerges from Harbour Air. Lisa McIntosh at H.R. MacMillan Space Centre We arranged for Mike to sit “up front” – hosted a visit from Estelle Pacalon, Kai Santavuori Three amigos & aviation buffs… Alan Nursall, Mike Lutz and me. We all survived. and myself. With Estelle and Kai at YVR Vancouver International Airport. A post-GSCA international dinner at one of my favourite Thai restaurants in Vancouver… Toshi Yasuda from Japan, Kai Santavuori from Finland, me (Canada), Estelle Pacalon from France, Robin Sip from Holland, Manos Kitsonas from Greece – and our token American, Mike Lutz. In October, we inaugurated the Giovale Open Deck Observatory on Designer Juan Tanus, Bill the Lowell campus, Flagstaff, Arizona - first phase of a $40 million Peters and I have worked on expansion in their educational and outreach program. Lowell’’s Master Planning for the past three years. Jim Cole with specially designed Planisphere. Edna Chan is with Kei Space Design, Vancouver. Lowell’s Deputy Director of Education, Samantha Gorney – and “Moki.” < Dinner with Jenn Bentz, Tammy Martin Seldon, Kelly Germain, Ian C. McLennan and Eileen Woods Pheiffer at the Sandbar, Granville Island Vancouver. The group was in town for the GSCA, Giant Screen Cinema Association. One of my close consulting associates, architect Bill Chomik from Calgary. > < The CASC recognized my dear friend, Amanda Smedley, with its Career Achievement Award. The dress helped. Ha ha. Amanda works with Tracy Calogheros at the Exploration Place, Prince George, B.C. I attended a special showing of SUPERPOWER DOGS (IMAX film produced by Daniel Ferguson) – seen here with Andrea Durham of Science World Vancouver. > < Among those attending the preview were Douglas Welch and his wife, Elizabeth Ball. Rahim Sajan is an energetic and visionary citizen of Calgary – heavily involved in community Nora Weber and I attended a special development. Along with preview of the newly upgraded Britannia Gordon Linden, Bill Chomik and Mine Museum in Squamish, BC. Randy David Hall, Rahim has asked me Ormston (here talking with Nora and Ron to look into prospects for Pears) was hired to produce the new Calgary (and other Alberta cities) exhibition experience. to host a world exposition in the next decade. Randy worked with his associate Scott Webber – as well as museum director Kirstin Clausen. Just look at that wonderful face… Denbigh is one of my important canine friends. He is aging (who isn’t?) and is going blind and deaf – a dreadful combination – but that hasn’t dulled his unwavering sense of loyalty or the anticipation and joy of hiking Rahim Sajan around Trout Lake. > On a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, this virtual butterfly landed squarely on my projected silhouette. I didn’t feel a thing. Visiting with Scott Mitchell, Manager of Orange Coast College Planetarium in Southern California. > George Jacob at Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco. At Palomar Observatory – With Dr. Ed Krupp and Dr. Jeffrey Hall. A lovely visit with Betty Reynolds in Long Beach, George Jacob shows Expo expert Gordon Linden a model of California… Becky was travelling overseas. his Ecotarium expansion for the San Francisco waterfront. Driving up into the San Gabriel Mountains to the famous Mt. Wilson Observatory. Ed Krupp and I pay homage to a great astronomer and pepper-loving friend, George O. Abell. Our home - the Monastery. The 100”Telescope. Hooker Jeff Hall and Founding meeting of the Alliance of Paul Gabor Historic Observatories at Mt. Wilson Observatory. Sam Hale (grandson of George Ellery Hale). Tim Thompson, Rachel Freed, Scott Roberts, Ed Krupp, Jeffrey Hall & John Briggs (Antique Telescope Society). Solar Telescope. Tom Meneghini. A visit to the remarkable ORBIT PAVILION at the Huntington Library and Art Collection in Los Angeles. The pavilion captures signals from earth orbiting satellites – and translates them into etherial sounds wafting in and outside the pavilion structure. Jeff Hall (Lowell Observatory) and I meet up at Palm Springs Airport – and take a scenic drive to the world famous Palomar Observatory for the Alliance of Historic Observatories. The iconic Palomar Dome – housing the 200” Hale Telescope. Jeff invites the group to Lowell Observatory for its next conference. The Hale Day at Palomar Exhibition Area.
Recommended publications
  • IAU Division C Inter-Commission C1-C3-C4 Working Group for Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture Annual Report for 2019
    IAU Division C Inter-Commission C1-C3-C4 Working Group for Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture Annual Report for 2019 Steven Gullberg (Chair) Javier Mejuto (Co-chair) Working Group Members (48 including Chair and Co-chair) Elio Antonello, G.S.D. Babu, Ennio Badolati, Juan Belmonte, Kai Cai, Brenda Corbin, Milan Dimitrijevic, Marta Folgueira, Jesus Galindo-Trejo, Alejandro Gangui, Beatriz García, César González-García, Duane Hamacher, Abraham Hayli, Dieter Herrmann, Bambang Hidayat, Thomas Hockey, Susanne Hoffmann, Jarita Holbrook, Andrew Hopkins, Matthaios Katsanikas, Ed Krupp, William Liller, Ioannis Liritzis, Alejandro Lopez, Claudio Mallamaci, Kim Malville, Areg Mickaelian, Gene Milone, Simon Mitton, Ray Norris, Wayne Orchiston, Robert Preston, Rosa Ros, Clive Ruggles, Irakli Simonia, Magda Stavinschi, Christiaan Sterken, Linda Strubbe, Woody Sullivan, Virginia Trimble, Ana Ulla, Johnson Urama, David Valls-Gabaud, Iryna Vavilova, Tiziana Venturi Working Group Associates (32) Bryan Bates, Patricio Bustamante, Nick Campion, Brian Davis, Margaret Davis, Sona Farmanyan, Roz Frank, Bob Fuller, Rita Gautschy, Cecilia Gomez, Akira Goto, Liz Henty, Stan Iwaniszewski, Olaf Kretzer, Trevor Leaman, Flavia Lima, Armando Mudrik, Andy Munro, Greg Munson, Cristina Negru, David Pankenier, Fabio Silva, Emilia Pasztor, Manuel Pérez-Gutiérrez, Michael Rappenglück, Eduardo Rodas, Bill Romain, Ivan Šprajc, Doris Vickers, Alex Wolf, Mariusz Ziółkowski, Georg Zotti 1 Objectives The IAU Working Group for Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture (WGAAC) continues from the 2015-2018 triennium and is in part a discussion and collaboration group for researchers in Archaeoastronomy and all aspects of Astronomy in Culture , and as well for others with interest in these areas. A primary motivation is to facilitate interactions between researchers, but the WG also has significant interest in promoting education regarding astronomy in culture in all respects.
    [Show full text]
  • How to Enjoy the Night Sky from Your Backyard
    4/25/2020 Astronomy tips: Guide to stargazing from your backyard - Los Angeles Times How to enjoy the night sky from your backyard https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2020-04-24/beginners-guide-to-night-skies-your-home 1/20 4/25/2020 Astronomy tips: Guide to stargazing from your backyard - Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2020-04-24/beginners-guide-to-night-skies-your-home 2/20 4/25/2020 Astronomy tips: Guide to stargazing from your backyard - Los Angeles Times It’s midnight at a campground on the Idaho-Utah border. Bear Lake, known for its Caribbean blue water and deliciously red raspberries, is a popular place for summer rentals and family reunions. My brother is sharing our camp trailer, but I know he wishes he weren’t. He doesn’t have kids. We have our first. He’s 2, and at midnight he’s screaming, “Outside! Outside!” Caddis, our Lab, gets anxious when he sees, hears or smells a critter in camp, so I look to him. There’s no critter. Just a crier. I get out of bed, step around Caddis and reach for my child. I wrap him in a light blanket with one hand and open the trailer door with the other. He is tucked close, which puts his wail right by my ear. “Outside! Outside!” Two steps down from the trailer, seven steps across the dirt and one big step up so I’m perched on the picnic table. As soon as I sit down, my son looks up.
    [Show full text]
  • Around the World
    10 JULY 2015 City Employees Club of Los Angeles • Alive! 10 AROUND THE WORLD 1 Mexico/Chicago/Tennessee Dr. Ed Krupp Director, Griffith Observatory 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Here’s our intrepid traveler, Dr. Ed Krupp, Director, Griffith Observatory/Rec and Parks, on three different trips. 1) “A road trip last December (http://ranchopuertoblanco.com). the sky through the aperture 4) “Replacement of the to Caborca, in Sonora, Mexico, The panel here has what looks overhead. This picture was Samuel Oschin Planetarium’s transported me, at last, to the like a crescent moon.” taken about an hour before the dome lighting system at Griffith 6000 or so prehistoric petro- lighting program began.” Observatory required a dem- glyphs of Cerro La Proveedora 2) “James Turrell, the cel- onstration of one of the options and Cerro Calera. This rock ebrated artist of light and 3) “The overnight trip to at the Sudekum Planetarium in art was probably produced space, has installed monu- Nashville in May permitted a the Adventure Science Center between 800 and 1100 A.D. mental Skyspaces all over brief visit to the Country Music in Nashville, Tenn.” by people perhaps related to the world, including Chicago, Hall of Fame, where a new the Hohokam of Phoenix and on the southwest corner of exhibit on Bob Dylan, Johnny 5) “An astronomical commit- southern Arizona. Crossing the Roosevelt and Halsted, on the Cash and the Nashville Cats tee meeting brought me to border at Lukeville/Sonuyta and campus of the University of ned on the marquee.” Chicago’s Adler Planetarium the drive to Caborca are easy.
    [Show full text]
  • Paul Sykes Lecture – Sat, Jan. 16 @ 7:30
    NOVANEWSLETTEROFTHEVANCOUVERCENTRERASC VOLUME2016ISSUE1JANUARYFEBRUARY2016 Paul Sykes Lecture – Sat, Jan. 16 @ 7:30 “Plutonic Relationships” featuring Ed Krupp – SFU Burnaby Campus, Room SWH10081 Pluto merged with popular culture renovation and expansion, completed erties of rich clusters of galaxies with as soon as it was discovered in 1930, in 2006. He majored in physics and the late Dr. George O. Abell. Since and since then it has shown up on astronomy as an undergraduate at 1973, Dr. Krupp has actively studied postage stamps, in comic books, in ancient, prehistoric, and traditional science fiction, in planetarium shows, astronomy and the relationships be- in museum exhibits, and elsewhere. tween astronomy and culture, includ- When deprived of full planet status ing modern culture, worldwide. Dr. in 2006, Pluto became even more Krupp is the author and editor of five conspicuous by its absence. Pluto has books on ancient, prehistoric, and a cultural identity that originated in traditional astronomy and author of the name it was given from Classi- four children’s books on astronomy. cal mythology and resonates with its He has also published dozens of re- astronomical character. In the last 85 search papers and hundreds of articles years, it has lodged itself in the public for the general reader, including three imagination with an influence far out on the cultural dimensions of Pluto. of proportion to its physical profile. He has visited more than 2000 an- The arrival this summer of a space- cient and prehistoric sites through- craft targeted on this tiny, distant out the world and most recently has world confirms the obvious: In our returned from an expedition to little hearts, Pluto is not just a dwarf planet.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cabin in the Sky Observatory: How Astronomy Changed Everything for One Lucky Family by Howard Trottier (Part Two of Three) Kids in the Camp
    NOVA NEWSLETTEROFTHEVANCOUVERCENTRERASC VOLUME2012ISSUE1JANUARYFEBRUARY2012 The Cabin in the Sky Observatory: How astronomy changed everything for one lucky family by Howard Trottier (Part two of three) kids in the camp. I became with “serious gear,” and located On May 12/13 of 2010, I was obsessed with observing, especially infinitely far from city lights; a fortunate to realize a dream shared deep-sky objects. I endlessly place to which I would escape to by many amateur astronomers. I poured over reference books and plumb the deepest of skies. took first light from an observatory star charts to prepare target lists, After high school, “recreational” that I had built at a remote get-away, and to come up with strategies for astronomy all but disappeared and which by certain providences how I might find those celestial from my life. When I would I was able to equip with first-rate treasurers from the sidewalk in occasionally think back to the time gear. I could when I had been now capture the consumed by deepest of deep- the pursuit of sky treasures. the next deep- As I recounted sky wonder, I in the first part was puzzled at of this story how that dream, (which appeared once so present, in the March/ now seemed so First light images with a CCD camera April 2011 removed. But edition of nova), the dream had front of my parents’ home, under it must have been there all along, its first stirrings in my case at the heavily light-polluted skies just under the surface, waiting for summer camp, when I was about of urban Montreal.
    [Show full text]
  • Space Traveler 1St Wikibook!
    Space Traveler 1st WikiBook! PDF generated using the open source mwlib toolkit. See http://code.pediapress.com/ for more information. PDF generated at: Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:31:25 UTC Contents Articles Centaurus A 1 Andromeda Galaxy 7 Pleiades 20 Orion (constellation) 26 Orion Nebula 37 Eta Carinae 47 Comet Hale–Bopp 55 Alvarez hypothesis 64 References Article Sources and Contributors 67 Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 69 Article Licenses License 71 Centaurus A 1 Centaurus A Centaurus A Centaurus A (NGC 5128) Observation data (J2000 epoch) Constellation Centaurus [1] Right ascension 13h 25m 27.6s [1] Declination -43° 01′ 09″ [1] Redshift 547 ± 5 km/s [2][1][3][4][5] Distance 10-16 Mly (3-5 Mpc) [1] [6] Type S0 pec or Ep [1] Apparent dimensions (V) 25′.7 × 20′.0 [7][8] Apparent magnitude (V) 6.84 Notable features Unusual dust lane Other designations [1] [1] [1] [9] NGC 5128, Arp 153, PGC 46957, 4U 1322-42, Caldwell 77 Centaurus A (also known as NGC 5128 or Caldwell 77) is a prominent galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus. There is considerable debate in the literature regarding the galaxy's fundamental properties such as its Hubble type (lenticular galaxy or a giant elliptical galaxy)[6] and distance (10-16 million light-years).[2][1][3][4][5] NGC 5128 is one of the closest radio galaxies to Earth, so its active galactic nucleus has been extensively studied by professional astronomers.[10] The galaxy is also the fifth brightest in the sky,[10] making it an ideal amateur astronomy target,[11] although the galaxy is only visible from low northern latitudes and the southern hemisphere.
    [Show full text]
  • Observatory Landmark Theaters and Club Member, $8.25 Unrestricted! in Front of the Facility in Griffith Park
    Serving over 30,000 City Employees Club of Los Angeles Vol. 11 n No. 10 Oct. 2012 City and DWP Employees ClubDeals KNOtt’S SCARY FARM $32.25 - $46.25 Now available UNIVERSAL ® HALLOWEEN HAUNT $45 - $66 Available only at www.cityemployeesclub.com New Club Deal! Dr. Ed Krupp, Director of Griffith Observatory LANDMARK THEATERS and Club Member, $8.25 Unrestricted! in front of the facility in Griffith Park. – See Page 45 for Tickets Rec and Parks Observatory A Day at the Come along as the Club’s Angel Gomez takes his family to visit the world famous Griffith Observatory. Take your family for a visit, too — what are you waiting for? – SEE PAGE 6 Dr. Ed Krupp, Director of Griffith Observatory, explains a statue of Albert Einstein to the family of the Club’s Angel Gomez. Dr. Ed Krupp, Director of Griffith Observatory, explains meteorites to the family of the Club’s Angel Gomez. photos by Summy Lam Alive! City Employees Club of Los Angeles 120 West 2nd Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 ® Retirees! News, columns, features, benefits… find your section in every issue of Alive! …GO TO PAGE 11 6 October 2012 City Employees Club of Los Angeles, Alive! A Day at the Ob servatory Club staffer Angel Gomez takes his family to Griffith Observatory. Take your family, too! Photos by Summy Lam, Club Director of Marketing tion, paid in part by a public bond issue, restored the building, as well as replaced the aging planetarium dome. The building See the stars this October! was expanded underground, with completely new exhibits, The City boasts many great institutions for the family.
    [Show full text]
  • Work Vs. Life ]
    LIFE AND DEATH IN THE D-POD (For ER physician Kara Toles ’ 7, work stress is part of the balancing act.) 30 | FROM TALIBAN BOMBS TO COCONUT PALMS (Follow the unlikely journey of Steven Gutkin ’86.) 36 | AFTER THE FALL (After Ramona Bridges ’77 fell from working with the homeless to being homeless, this is how she found her way back.) 40 | CITY OF DREAMS (Douglas Preston ’78 discusses his pursuit of a childhood dream into the jungles of Honduras.) 12 C O L L E G E M G Z I N E Fall 2 17 PLUS: The Inauguration of Pomona’s 1 th President, G. Gabrielle Starr 22 [HOME P GE] A Welooked to the west across the vast plain that lay at our feet, far below REUNI N the high summit we had recently ascended by ski lift. An ominous wall of darkness rushed toward us, T enveloping everything in its path. Someone muttered, “Sauron, the Lord of Darkness, comes now in all ECLIPSE his might!” We all then turned from this foreboding view to the sky above to watch the most astonishing and ALL spectacular event in all of nature. This was the moment for which the two of us had been preparing for seven years. Totality had begun for THERS 200-plus Pomona College alumni, their families and friends, in the Pomona College Solar Eclipse By Lew and Chuck Phelps ’65 Reunion of 2017. • Left: The ski lift up Fred’s Mountain brings more participants to the reunion. Below: Sagehens watch the slow progress of the moon across the sun from their mountain perch.
    [Show full text]
  • Iau Commission C3 Newsletter
    IAU COMMISSION C3 NEWSLETTER HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY Welcome to the winter solstice edition of the newsletter We wish everyone health and happiness in the new year. of IAU Commission C3 (History of Astronomy). This The next issue of the newsletter will be in June 2021. issue features the announcement of a new Project Group Please send our Secretary any news you would like us to and reports of pre-existing Working Groups and Project include. Groups since the last newsletter in June 2020. It contains Sara Schechner, Secretary news of upcoming conferences, reports of recent Wayne Orchiston, President meetings, a list of notable publications, and tables of Christiaan Sterken, Vice-President content from a journal devoted to the history of astronomy. The newsletter also contains announcements of research and PhD opportunities in the history of TABLE OF CONTENTS astronomy as well as an introduction to a new Ourania Network. And of course, you will find news from Reports of Working Groups & Project Groups 2 members, announcements of awards, and obituaries. Making History 15 Oral History 24 We are excited to introduce some new sections to the Art & Exhibitions 26 newsletter. The “Making History” section includes Announcements 30 reports on the Astronomy Genealogy Project (AstroGen), Awards and Honors 34 analysis of the Vatican Observatory’s guest book, and the News from Members 35 rescue of a medieval manuscript by Lewis of Caerleon. In In Memoriam 37 the “Oral History” section, there is a first-hand account Notable Publications 39 of the founding of the Journal of Astronomical History and Journal Contents 41 Heritage.
    [Show full text]
  • Iau Commission C3 Newsletter
    IAU COMMISSION C3 NEWSLETTER HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY Welcome to the first newsletter of IAU Commission C3 have been sheltering in place in our homes. It is a scary (History of Astronomy). This issue is jam-packed with time. We fear that family, friends, and colleagues will be progress reports of our Commission, Working Groups, stricken with the awful virus. This virus knows no and Project Groups since the Vienna General Assembly. borders. It has shown the world what we astronomers It contains announcements of upcoming conferences and have long known: We are all under one sky. reports of those that have recently taken place. There is We hope this simple newsletter will entertain and inform a list of notable publications suggested by Commission you in these troubled days. We are a very busy members and tables of content from several journals Commission! The next issue of the newsletter will be in devoted to the history of astronomy. In these pages, you December 2020. Please send our Secretary any news you will find news from members, announcements of awards, would like us to include. and obituaries. Wayne Orchiston These have been very unsettling times. The pandemic of Christiaan Sterken the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has touched us all. Sara Schechner Many of us are locked out of our research institutions and Executive Committee TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWSLETTER EDITOR Commission and Working Group Reports 2 Sara Schechner [email protected] C3 Organising Committee for 2018-2021 2 IAU Commission C3 Progress Report 3 Please email submissions, reports, and news for the Reports of Working Groups and Project Groups 11 next newsletter by November 15, 2020.
    [Show full text]
  • Is There a Conflict Between Archaeology and Archaeoastronomy? an Astronomer’S View
    FORUM Is There a Conflict between Archaeology and Archaeoastronomy? An Astronomer’s View Juan Antonio Belmonte Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias [email protected] In the early 1990s, Anthony Aveni visited Tenerife and gave a seminar at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) during a field campaign in the Canary Islands to which he was invited by local archaeologists. I had recently finished my PhD thesis on asteroseismology and was starting a “promising” career in stellar physics. However, due to our personal interest, César Esteban and myself were taking our first steps in the tempestuous ocean of archaeoastronomy, as the discipline was best known in that epoch. The term “cultural astronomy”, recently promoted by Carlos Jaschek (“astronomie dans le culture” – Belmonte 2009) was not widely spread yet (see also Iwaniszewski 1994). After the seminar at the IAC, we went out for lunch with Professor Aveni and I asked him a question: “Who could better investigate archaeoastronomy; an astronomer or an archaeologist − or an anthropologist by the way − ?” His answer was very puzzling. The best, he said, would be to forget anything you had learned by training either in physical or social sciences and become a true archaeoastronomer within the framework of a completely new epistemology. We had started formal contacts with local archaeologists in the Canaries, such as Nona Perera and Antonio Tejera (e.g. Perera Betancourt et al. 1996), bearing in mind the “well-accepted” interdisciplinary character of the subject. Our surprise was substantive and Aveni’s response would heavily influence our future deci- sions. This essay is hence a reflection on my own personal experience.
    [Show full text]
  • Around the World
    46 February 2012 City Employees Club of Los Angeles, Alive! Take the Club with you, wherever you go! AROUND THE WORLD 1 England & Africa 2 Azores At Stonehenge. In front of chief’s house in Obiongta, traditional Himba village in Namibia. Here’s Baron “Mr. B.” Greenhouse, Club Member, in the Azores (Portugal). Dr. Ed Krupp Director, 3 The Caribbean Griffith Observatory On the tropic of Capricorn, Namibia. At the Hoba meteorite, the world’s largest, in Namibia. “I am finally sending a few images from last October’s trip to England and Namibia. The return to England was prompted by a conference in Bristol, ‘Heavenly Discourses,’ at which I presented the closing lecture, a talk called ‘Into the Blue.’ The trip gave me a chance to visit Stonehenge, Avebury, and other sites to which I had not been back for a couple of decades. New and important work at Stonehenge persuaded me I should have a look around again, and I had after-hours access. Most of the interesting new work is in areas around Stonehenge. “From England, I continued to Namibia, in southwest Africa, to catch up with a Friends of the Observatory tour of southern skies and African wonders, including the world’s largest meteorite, prehistoric rock art, wild animals, giant sand dunes, and more. “Here is a picture of me somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean during my “Happy perihelion passage.” eastern Caribbean cruise right after Thanksgiving.” – Dr. Ed Krupp, Director, Griffith Observatory – Rodney Bernaldo, Public Works The Alive! Around the World Map at Club Headquarters Take the Club with you, wherever you go! Club members are a well-traveled bunch.
    [Show full text]