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Alachua Astronomy Club, Inc. |  Member Astronomical League |
 Member International Dark-Sky Association |
| Monthly
Meetings 2009 |
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| 29°39' N, 82°21' W Altitude: 50 Meters (more or less) |
Updated Dec. 23, 2008 | ||
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| Meeting Schedule | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| CURRENT SCHEDULE BELOW |
| « INDEX OF SPEAKERS SINCE 1996 (pdf file) » |
LOCATION
POWELL HALL EXHIBITION CENTER (FLMNH) of the FLORIDA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
University of Florida Cultural Plaza — Hull Road
(Just east of S.W. 34 Street at western edge of UF campus)
Gainesville, Florida USARoom: Meeting usually held in Lucille T. Maloney Classroom. (Meeting may meet elsewhere in building during summer due to special museum classes.) [Directions and Map]
Parking Warning Powell Hall is located in the UF cultural complex that includes the Phillips Center for Performing Arts (CPA) and the Harn Museum of Art. Also across the street is the SW Recreational Center. Unless there is a CPA performance on the same evening as AAC meetings at Powell Hall, parking should not normally be a problem.
However, if an event is also schduled at the CPA, plan accordingly and arrive early!
(You can check UF's Calendar of Events for scheduled CPA performances)
- All monthly meetings are free and open to the public (but why not become a member!)
- Check detailed schedule for any changes in time or location
- The AAC Executive Council also meets the first Tuesday of the month
SPEAKER SCHEDULE
(Click date to see details)
Date (2009) Guest Speaker(s) Title or Topic
January 13 Fred Palgon Rocket Propulsion - History and Development of the World's First Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Hydrogen Engine, the RL 10 February 10 Bill Helms How You Can Know Absolutely and Positively For Sure Whether We Landed On The Moon, No Matter What NASA Says March 10 Laurent Pellerin & Kristin Fiaccato Special Event at Kika Silva Pla Planetarium: Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity
April 14 Rich Russin Sinagua Sunwatchers - Archaeoastronomy of the V-BAR-V Heritage Site May 12 TBA TBA June 9 TBA TBA July 14 TBA TBA August 11 TBA TBA September 8 TBA TBA October 13 TBA TBA November 10 TBA TBA December 5 None (Holiday Party) Help Celebrate Our 22nd Anniversary (Date Tentative)
DETAILS OF 2009 MEETINGS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2009, 7:00 p.m. ET
Speaker: Fred Palgon, Member of the AAC Board
E-Mail: ampalgon "at" bellsouth "dot" net
Title: Rocket Propulsion - History and Development of the World's First Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Hydrogen Engine, the RL 10
Location: Powell Hall, Florida Museum of Natural History (Lucille T. Maloney Classroom), UF Campus, Gainesville FL
Preview: Fred will discuss the history and development of the RL 10 rocket engine. The Pratt and Whitney aircraft RL 10, the power plant for NASA/Lockheed Martin's upper stage Centaur space launch vehicle, was the first rocket engine in the world to use high-energy liquid hydrogen as a fuel. It was the technological pathfinder in hydrogen rocketry and led to the development of larger engines that made possible man's greatest engineering achievement, the lunar landing in July 1969. The presentation will include an overview on the design and development of the Alternate Turbopumps for the Space Shuttle Main Engines, why the original turbopumps needed to be redesigned, and a brief explanation of the engine's operation.
About the Speaker: Fred recently retired from Pratt and Whitney Aircraft, where he worked his entire career of 32 years as a Design Project Engineer. During his career, he designed numerous jet engine hardware systems used in military aircraft for the SR-71 Blackbird, F-14 Tomcat, F-15 Eagle, F-16 Falcon, F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. While working on gas turbine engines, Fred supported the production of Pratt's only liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen engine, the RL 10 which powers the upper stages of Lockheed Martin's Atlas and Boeing's Delta vehicles. Fred also was directly involved in the Alternate Turbopump Development Program for NASA, which provided replacement designs and production of the High Pressure Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Hydrogen Turbopumps for the Space Shuttle's Main Engines, which are currently flying on the Shuttle today. Fred graduated from the University of Florida with an Aerospace Engineering degree, and currently lives in Gainesville with his wife.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2009, 7:00 p.m. ET
Speaker: Bill Helms, President, AAC
E-Mail: bill "dot" helms "at" wildblue "dot" net
Title: How You Can Know Absolutely and Positively For Sure Whether We Landed On The Moon, No Matter What NASA Says
Location: Powell Hall, Florida Museum of Natural History (Lucille T. Maloney Classroom), UF Campus, Gainesville FL
Preview: The speaker will present evidence regarding the Apollo missions from sources other than NASA that will allow the audience to come to their own conclusions regarding the truth or falsity of NASA's claim to have landed twelve men on the Moon in 1969–1972. The program will end with a scientific hypothesis which each audience member can test for themselves.
About the Speaker: Bill Helms is the current President of the Alachua Astronomy Club, Inc., and has served the AAC, in outstanding capacity, during his previous three years holding the office.
Bill is also past Programs Coordinator of the AAC. He has a Bachelor's degree in Physics and a Master's degree in Management from Florida State University. Bill retired to the dark skies of North Florida after a 35-year career with NASA at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), where he was a Firing Room launch console operator for both the Apollo lunar landing missions and the early Space Shuttle missions. While at NASA, Bill designed launch complex instrumentation for the Space Shuttle, and designed the Hazardous Gas Detection System used at the launch complex for over 20 years. The instrumentation he designed was credited with saving three shuttle missions from launch with potentially catastrophic hydrogen leakage. Bill established and managed KSC Instrumentation Development Labs for 20 years. He has been awarded two NASA Exceptional Service Medals.
Bill has been an amateur astronomer for 36 years. In that time, he has earned several Astronomical League Observing Club Awards: Messier - observed the complete Messier Catalog of objects; Binocular Messier - observed 50, or more, Messier Catalog objects using binoculars; and Lunar - observed 100 features of the moon by eye, binocular and telescope. Multifaceted and multitalented, Bill is also a percussionist in the Gainesville Community Band.
This is Bill's fourth presentation to the Alachua Astronomy Club; he has previously given talks on purchasing a telescope in November 2005, reviewed lunar atlases, books, and maps in February 2006, and building his Suwannee Skies Observatory September 2007.
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2009, 7:00 p.m. ET
A Special Event at The SFC Kika Silva Pla Planetarium
Kika Silva Pla Planetarium
(Click for another image)
Speakers: Laurent Pellerin, Director, Kika Silva Pla Planetarium & Kristin Fiaccato, Planetarium Assistant, Kika Silva Pla Planetarium
E-Mail: laurent dot"pellerin "at" sfcc "dot" edu, kristin "dot" fiaccato "at "sfcc "dot" edu
Title: Planetarium program Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity
Location: Kika Silva Pla Planetarium, Santa Fe College Campus, 3000 NW 83 St., Building X, Room 129, Gainesville, FL
NOTE DIFFERENT LOCATION FOR THIS MONTH'S SPECIAL EVENT — SEE MAP
Preview: The AAC Monthly Meeting will have a change of venue for March when we will be guests at the Santa Fe College Kika Silva Pla Planetarium. The AAC had its July 2007 meeting there and received a special preview of the new planetarium prior to its opening to the public. They are happy to have us back and grateful for all of the support that the AAC has given them at past and ongoing events! Following our brief business meeting, Laurent and Kristin will dazzle us with all the planetarium has to offer including a 25 minute presentation of "Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity" and a demonstration of the amazing CHRONOS Projector with a preview of the sky for our March star party!
NOTE: Although the planetarium is currently changing its seating arrangements and plans to have approx. 60 seats available, reservations are suggested for this event. Since our average meeting attendance is around 30 – 40, we should be able to get everyone in.
However, to assure a seat please RSVP to Programs Chair at: programs "at" floridastars.org
About the Speakers:
Laurent Pellerin is the Planetarium Director at the Sante Fe College Kika Silva Pla Planetarium. He came to SFC in May 2007 after 14 years at the Seminole Community College Planetarium. Laurent grew up in Key West, FL and first got turned on to the stars when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. He graduated from Seminole Community College in Sanford, FL and then pursued a Secondary Science Education Degree at the University of Central Florida, earning his Bachelor's Degree in 1993. Laurent has also worked with scientists from NASA and major Universities on meteor research projects. He was part of a six man team who finally proved in 1999 that flashes reported on the moon for centuries are actually meteor impacts. He also enjoys mythology related to the heavens and Native American star lore. He lives with his wife and their combined families in Gainesville.
Kristin Fiaccato grew up in the city of Chicago where she was barely able to see the moon through the towering buildings there. After moving to Deltona, FL in 1993, she was lucky enough to have a local astronomy group pay a visit to her class when she was in the fifth grade. Kristin instantly fell in love with astronomy when she gazed at the full moon through one of the telescopes. In was in that breathtaking moment that she knew she was hooked for life. Kristin recently graduated from the University of Florida, receiving Bachelor Degrees in Astronomy and Physics. She has volunteered at UF Campus Teaching Observatory almost every Friday night since 2005. It was her work there that led to her current position as Planetarium Assistant at the Kika Silva Pla Planetarium. Kristin lives with her husband, Nick, and dog, Cosmo, in Gainesville.
TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2009, 7:00 p.m. ET
Speaker: Rich Russin
E-Mail: jpmashie "at" yahoo "dot" com
Title: Sinagua Sunwatchers - Archaeoastronomy of the V-BAR-V Heritage Site
Location: Powell Hall, Florida Museum of Natural History (Lucille T. Maloney Classroom), UF Campus, Gainesville FL
Preview: TBA
About the Speaker: Rich has enjoyed a lifelong interest in photography and astronomy. Over the last three years, his focus has shifted more to astronomy. Recently, he has developed an interest in the archeoastronomy of the American Southwest. According to Rich, "I also enjoy the hardware side of modern astronomy. Combined with a love of the past, it gives me a great appreciation of our continuing quest to understand the universe." Rich still maintains his interest in photography, and currently contributes his talent as the AAC's official photographer.
TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2009, 7:00 p.m. ET
Speaker: TBA
E-Mail:
Title: TBA
Location: Powell Hall, Florida Museum of Natural History (Lucille T. Maloney Classroom), UF Campus, Gainesville FL
Preview: TBA
About the Speakers: TBA
TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2009, 7:00 p.m. ET
Speaker: TBA
E-Mail:
Title: TBA
Location: Powell Hall, Florida Museum of Natural History (Lucille T. Maloney Classroom), UF Campus, Gainesville FL
Preview: TBA
About the Speakers: TBA
TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2009, 7:00 p.m. ET
Speaker: TBA
E-Mail:
Title: TBA
Location: Powell Hall, Florida Museum of Natural History (Lucille T. Maloney Classroom), UF Campus, Gainesville FL
Preview: TBA
About the Speakers: TBA
TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2009, 7:00 p.m. ET
Speaker: TBA
E-Mail:
Title: TBA
Location: Powell Hall, Florida Museum of Natural History (Lucille T. Maloney Classroom), UF Campus, Gainesville FL
Preview:TBA
About the Speakers: TBA
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2009, 7:00 p.m. ET
Speaker: TBA
E-Mail:
Title: TBA
Location: Powell Hall, Florida Museum of Natural History (Lucille T. Maloney Classroom), UF Campus, Gainesville FL
Preview:TBA
About the Speakers: TBA
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2009, 7:00 p.m. ET
Speaker: TBA
E-Mail:
Title: TBA
Location: Powell Hall, Florida Museum of Natural History (Lucille T. Maloney Classroom), UF Campus, Gainesville FL
Preview: TBA
About the Speakers: TBA
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2009, 7:00 p.m. ET
Speaker: TBA
E-Mail:
Title: TBA
Location: Powell Hall, Florida Museum of Natural History (Lucille T. Maloney Classroom), UF Campus, Gainesville FL
Preview: TBA
About the Speakers: TBA
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009 (Tentative), 6:00 p.m. ET — Dinner Served 6:30 p.m.
Speaker: None but lots of fun!
Title: "Holiday Party" and Celebration of AAC's 22nd Birthday!
Location: TBA
Preview: AAC will hold its annual December holiday party — a potluck dinner. (There will be no regular Tuesday meeting in December.) Club will buy drinks and paper products. (There will be a food sign up sheet at our October and November meetings — see below.)
Food to Bring: If you miss signing up at the October or November meetings, please e-mail to potluck (at) floridastars.org and indicate what food dish you will bring:Last year we celebrated our 21st anniversary. This year we celebrate our club's 22nd anniversary! Good food, games, our traditional astro slide quiz, sci-fi space music, more. Begins approximately at sunset. Lasts till whenever. [Return to Top]
- Wings, ham rolls, cheese & crackers, finger sandwiches, taco salad w/chips, dessert or other (please designate)
- Also indicate the number of adults and children (give ages) who will attend.
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