EL MIRAGE LIBRARY – ECLIPSE DAY PARTY!
Come to the El Mirage Library bright and early for a safe solar viewing of 2023’s annular eclipse.
There will be fun activities to do and safety glasses and telescopes operated by the West Valley Astronomy Club volunteers to view the eclipse!
More information is available at the library website: El Mirage Library
Time: 9:00 – 10:15 am
Host: Mat Sanders
Slide Show
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October 3, 2023
Speaker: Steve Bradshaw
Topic: How Far Away Is That? (but more importantly, how do we measure it?)
Description: In the presentation Steve gives an in depth but understandable walk through of the rungs on the “Cosmic Distance Ladder”.
Bio: Steve is a retired IT instructor and course developer. He is also an active member of EVAC where he volunteers for outreach events at schools, star parties and the observatory. Steve is also on the Board of Directors for EVAC.
Format: In Person
Speaker: Tom Polakis
Topic: Astroimages: More Than Just Pretty Pictures
Description: Astronomical imaging has made great strides in the past decade alone. Often, the emphasis is placed on the sharpness of stars and the trueness of colors. But is that all there is to see? In his presentation, Tom dug deeper into his images and videos to show such features as the influence of the earth’s atmosphere, effects of geometry and perspective, and distances and velocities, typically using no more than high school-level math. Pictures really are worth a thousand words.
Bio: Tom Polakis has been an active amateur astronomer for 45 years, during which has seen Saturn circle the sun 1 1/2 times. His main interests involve visual observing of all astronomical phenomena, and imaging of the same with equipment ranging from a phone to a backyard observatory. He has a particular interest in describing the universe as an ever-changing entity. His writing and photography have regularly appeared in magazines such as “Astronomy” and “Sky & Telescope,” and more recently has been an author or co-author in refereed astronomical publications.
Click Here for a recording of the same presentation at the East Valley Astronomy Club.
The links below are refereed to by Tom in his presentation:
Lowell Observatory Club Trip
On May 26th 2023 24 members of the West Valley Astronomy club made the trip to Flagstaff Arizona to
visit the Lowell Observatory. We schedule a special group tour with which included an all day pass to
the facility, multiple seminars during the day and guided tours to the Clark Telescope and Pluto
telescope building. At 8:15 the group gathered in the lobby of the entrance to begin our Dark Skies tour
package.
Experience the famously dark skies of Flagstaff, Arizona, home of the Lowell Observatory. The Dark
Skies Package includes one and a half hours of private stargazing for our group using the new 24” (0.6m)
Dyer Telescope. Tour groups members will also enjoy a laser-guided constellation tour of the adjoining
McAllister Observing plaza.
While not observing we were able to explore other parts of the observatory on our own including:
Additional information:
Public Star Party Peoria Sunrise Mountain Library
Peoria Sunrise Mountain Library
Date and time: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26 from 7:00 – 8:00 PM
Brief introductory talk
Setup location: Basketball court just north of the library
Nice site, basketball court just north of the library, library doors open until 7:00.
Easy to get to off Lake Pleasant Parkway, plenty of close parking
Attendees: 50 Volunteers: 12 Visitors: 38
The sky was clear, and although it was not a dark night, we had great views of the Moon, Venus, and Mars.
The attendees enjoyed looking through all the telescopes we brought to the event.
We also demonstrated the club’s Library Telescope for the first time and made people aware of the program in Peoria.
