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2020 Midsouth Star Gaze & Astronomy Conference

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2020 MIDSOUTH STAR GAZE & ASTRONOMY CONFERENCE SCHEDULE Wednesday: April 22 Setting Up, Solar Observing, Fellowship, Sightseeing Sunset-Until: Observing Thursday: April 23 9:00 am: Coffee and snacks in the classroom 12:00pm: Lunch on your own (Council House Café) 2:00pm: Dave Teske, “The Lunar Topographic Studies Program of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers” 4:00pm: Bob Swanson, “Identification of Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) in the Lagoon Nebula (M8)” 5:00 pm: Supper on your own (Council House Café) Sunset-Until: Observing Friday: April 24 9:00 am: Coffee and snacks in the classroom Solar Observing, Fellowship, Sightseeing 12:00pm: Lunch on your own (Council House Café) 1:00pm: Lecture, Jon Talbot,”Astrophotography from Suburbia” 3:00 pm: Lecture: Dr. William Keel, “Hubble 30th Anniversary!” 5:00 pm Supper on your own (Council House Café) 7:30 pm: Lecture: “Sky Lore in the Planetarium” with Dave Teske Sunset-Until: Observing Saturday: April 25 Solar Observing, Fellowship, Sightseeing 9:00 am: Coffee and snacks in the classroom 12:00pm: Lunch on your own (Council House Café) 1:00pm: Lecture: Rob Pettengill, Ph.D. “Great images from a tiny telescope - Solar System photography with the Questar and Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassador Program” 3:00 pm: Lecture: Dr. William Keel, “It’s Never Aliens” 5:00 pm: Supper on your own (Council House Café) Sunset-Until: Observing Lecture Abstracts Dr. William C. Keel Lectures: “Hubble at 30: Looking Back, Looking Forward” As the Hubble Space Telescope reaches its 30th anniversary in orbit, we can take a broad view of its scientific legacy. The scale of the project was enormous, and so too has been its payoff. The scope of its data collections has wildly exceeded first expectations, in part because of the maturity and experience the community has gained, and in part because so much of the astronomical landscape has changed to allow Hubble to be part of studies which are at once more focused and more complete. At its launch, there were no 8- or 10-meter optical telescopes, no Sloan Digital Sky Survey allowing automated selection of complete sets of stars or galaxies by color, magnitude, and redshift, no World-Wide Web to browse, retrieve, and disseminate data. No exoplanets had been detected, and now HST has characterized their atmospheres as they pass in front of the host stars. Gamma-ray bursts and gravitational waves from neutron-star mergers had yet to be localized, of both of which Hubble played important roles. A long enough mission (and new instruments capable of wider coverage) generated broadband mapping of a their dog the Andromeda Galaxy and the history of stars in each region, while a similarly large coverage of deep sky formed the tip of a pyramid with a huge ground-based effort to stay galaxy evolution. Hubble watched comets explode in Jupiter’s cloud tops, and found a tiny trans-Pluto object for New Horizons to reconnoiter. And black holes - they are everywhere! Long-lasting, flexible space observatories really are like a box of chocolates. “It’s Never Aliens” While the very idea of extraterrestrial intelligence is among the greatest questions people would like to see answered, our extensive ignorance of the minds of being we’ve never encountered means that the first hint of their existence may come as the byproduct of astronomical observations intended for some very different purpose. While this is reason enough to keep a wide eye open on the floods of new data which show no sign of slowing down, there is a long history of calling “Aliens!” prematurely. The canals of Mars may be the most famous example, but there have also been claims of lunar cities, Martian monuments, light sails visiting the solar system, and enormous structure blotting out starlight. Serious attention has gone into checking the lunar surface for artifacts not put there by humans, and how a civilization should most effectively go about attracting attention should that prove advisable. There have even been calculations of how many civilizations might have cocooned most of the stars in a whole galaxy in energy-catching layers. But still, it’s never aliens. Until, perhaps one night to come, it is. Bio: Dr. Keel is a galaxy research astronomer from the University of Alabama. He has conducted research on some of the most powerful telescopes in the world such as Lick Observatory, Mount Lemmon, Kitt Peak, Lowell Observatory, La Palma, Bol'shoi Teleskop Azimutal'nyi, Cerro Tololo, European Southern Observatory, NASA, Infrared Telescope Facility Mauna Kea, MMT, Mt. Hopkins, Arizona, MDM Observatory, Palomar Mountain, SARA Observatory, Kitt Peak and Cerro Tololo ARC 3.5m telescope, Apache Point Observatory, New Mexico Gemini Observatory Mauna Kea and Cerro Pachon, NRAO: Very Large Array telescope, James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Mauna Kea, Low Earth orbit, Hubble Space,Telescope, ROSAT, IRAS, STS-95 Starlite, FUSE, GALEX, Swift, Suzaku, High Earth orbit, ISO, Chandra, XMM-Newton, Geosynchronous orbit, IUE Solar escape orbit, Voyager 2. He has also published two books - The Road to Galaxy Formation and The Sky at Einstein's Feet. Jon Talbot Lecture: “Astrophotography from Suburbia which is based on the article Jon wrote for Sky and Telescope last year. It discusses what one can do using the right techniques when dealing with light pollution and the images one can produce.” Bio: Jonathan Talbot is the retired Chief Flight Meteorologist of the 53d Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, better known as the Hurricane Hunters, located at Keesler AFB in Biloxi MS. Jon retired in July 2016 after 34 years of service. He has over 5,600 flying hours and 153 hurricane penetrations, which provided critical data to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fl. Jon was active in promoting hurricane awareness during many trips through Caribbean nations. He was the main project manager in the development of the Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer which is an instrument carried on reconnaissance aircraft to remotely measure wind speeds on the ocean surface. Jon has been attending the Texas Star Party since 2014. Jon is also an avid astrophotographer. Jon took up the hobby of astrophotography in 2001 and has pursued photographing the night sky for the past 19 years using astronomical CCD and DSLR cameras. Jon has been using PixInsight since its release in 2004 and has done PixInsight presentations at TSP, NEAIC, Winter Star Party, Okie Tex and the Mid-South Star Gaze as well as writing a yearlong PixInsight series for Amateur Astronomy. He has had numerous images published in Sky and Telescope, Astronomy and Amateur Astronomy Magazines. He has also done multiple equipment reviews for Astronomy magazine. His most recent article, published in Sky and Telescope, was how to optimize imaging from suburban locations. Jon has a backyard observatory in Ocean Springs MS and photographs the night sky there and across the country at dark sites. Since retirement, he has been active in teaching astrophotography techniques at various star parties across the central and SE US. Jon lives in Ocean Springs MS with his wife Janice and has two daughters and 2 grandsons. Dave Teske Lectures: “The Lunar Topographic Studies Program of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers. This program will discuss the history of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO) with emphasis on its Lunar Topographic Studies Program. Examples of submissions will be discussed, including dome reports, topographic reports, lunar geologic change programs and examples of images presented. A discussion of the demographics of contributors and their equipment will be highlighted. Emphasis will be on the newsletter The Lunar Observer which is edited by the presenter. Also, methods of contribution and joining ALPO will be discussed.” “Sky Lore in the Planetarium” Bio: David Teske is a long-time amateur astronomer who specializes in lunar and solar astronomy, as well as public outreach. He has worked as the assistant planetarium at the Alworth Planetarium in Duluth, Minnesota, the assistant director at the Davis Planetarium in Jackson, Mississippi, and has presented numerous astronomy programs at the Rainwater Observatory, nature centers, and schools. He is recently retired as a science teacher who has been the recipient of numerous awards for teaching including STAR teacher twice, teacher of the year from Parents for Public Schools, and recognition from NASA and the Air Force Association for teaching. NASA awarded Teske for Mission Home, for incorporating science applications to Earthly applications. The Air Force Association awarded Teske the Christa McAuliffe Teacher of the Year for his teaching of air and space sciences in middle school. Currently, Teske is the Acting Coordinator of the Lunar Topographic Studies Program of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers. Rob Pettengill, Ph.D. Lectures: “Great images from a tiny telescope - Solar System photography with the Questar" Digital post processing can render better planetary images from small telescopes today than the great observatories did with film. Tips and techniques to capture award winning images with your Questar or other small scope. Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassador Program which gives amateur astronomers, planetarium personnel, and teachers back stage access to the great American observatories in Chile. https://earthsky.org/?s=ACEAP Bio: Rob is an engineer, astrophotographer, and astronomy ambassador for the NSF/Associated Universities Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassador Program and the NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador programs. His small telescope solar system astrophotography has won a 2019 Austin Chronicle Critics Best of Austin pick as Best Photographer to Keep You Starry-Eye, Solar System Image of the Year 2015 at the Texas Star Party, and an Astronomical League 2017 OPT Imaging Award winner 2nd place Solar System image. He enjoys sharing the skies and how to capture them in images, on his BadAstroPhotos.com web site, and articles appearing in EarthSky and Astronomy Technology Today.
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