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Select Wednesday Evenings, 7 - 8:30 pm
At the Smithwick Theater, Foothill College
El Monte Rd., Los Altos Hills, CA
Sponsored by:
NASA Ames Research Center,
Foothill College Astronomy and LINC Programs,
Astronomical Society of the Pacific,
SETI Institute
In this series of six illustrated, non-technical talks, noted astronomers will discuss recent discoveries and new ideas in our exploration of the universe, from nearby planets to the most distant galaxies. The evening programs are free and open to the public (they are appropriate for students ages 13 or older.) While one may attend some or all the talks just for fun, a unit of college credit is available to those who register for all six programs and write a short paper (Astronomy 36.01).
October 13, 1999: Dr. Geoff Marcy (UC, Berkeley), the world's foremost planet discoverer, will discuss how we are finding new worlds around other stars and what surprises nature is springing on us as we survey planets elsewhere.
November 17, 1999: Dr. Jill Tarter (Director, Project Phoenix, SETI Institute) will talk about "Making Contact: The Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence". (The role Jodie Foster played in the film
Contact was modeled on Dr. Tarter and her work.)
January 26, 2000: Dr. Alexei Filippenko (UC, Berkeley) will describe "Einstein's Biggest Blunder: New Discoveries about Cosmic 'Antigravity'" -- work that Science magazine selected as the most important science story of 1998.
A special one-unit credit workshop for K-12 teachers, led by Foothill Astronomy Instructor Andrew Fraknoi, will be offered in the late afternoon on the day before each evening talk (Astronomy 36.02). Teachers will be introduced to the evening's topic, will learn about effective ways to include it in their science curriculum, and will be shown a variety of
hands-on, minds-on activities that can help enhance student understanding. Handouts will include written
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Stellafane Endowment Fund
attn/Maryann Arrien
Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc.
PO Box 601
Springfield, VT 05156
Please make checks out to the Fund and add an additional $7.00 for shipping, for a total of $57 (or more, if you like). Allow up to eight weeks for delivery, as the PO box doesn't always get checked that often. To expedite the process, send an email to Maryann Arrien at marrien@computer.net. All proceeds go to Stellafane.
I know that a lot of people who will read this live out West and even beyond, so traveling to Vermont is quite an excursion. Coming from Ohio, I felt that we were from the extremities of attendees, though I did talk to a guy from Wisconsin. However, if you're a telescope maker, you owe it to yourself to make at least one pilgrimage to "the House that Porter built." The place just oozes the history and tradition of amateur astronomy and you can soak it up just by being there. Its a unique experience!
Anyway, hope everyone's having a nice end of summer.
Clear skies,
Jay Ryan, Astronomical Cartoonist
http://www.skywise.com
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