I’ll be at the meeting tonight with some Club merchandise. If you are wanting something let me know before 6pm so I can make sure to bring it. I think we will have 2024 calendars there tonight.
OKC Astronomy Club - Friday, August 9th, 2024 - Save the date!
We have 2 speakers -
#1 - A brief 3-5 minute introduction to the Cosmo tool being developed at the University of Washington by 16 year old, Claire Zhao.
#2 and the Main Speaker - Dr. Nicolle Zellner - Albion College, MI
Topic - “The Moon - the Who, the What, the Why”
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For the person who asked where we meet…we meet in SMO’s auditorium (west end of SMO)!
Eileen
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Club merchandise available at Club meetings. Please let us know what you want so we will have it on hand at this meeting.
We will have some door prize giveaways and I will have some CRO keys let me know if you need a key.
Let me compare my key to make sure I have a current key.
Eileen
The key has not been changed. If you need a replacement you can get it from Chris Petroff also.
I wanted to ask Dr. Zellner (the moon expert) if they had found, during the survey, a magnetic “anomaly” near the crater Tycho but demurred as I did not think she would have realized why I was asking that question ;-).
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OKC Astronomy Club Meeting - Friday, October 11th, 2024
PRESENTER: Ken Mason
7:00 PM - Science Museum of Oklahoma/Main Auditorium
Title: Exoplanet Watch: Citizen Scientists Observing Other Worlds, A project of NASA’s Universe of Learning Program
Bio:
Ken grew up here in Oklahoma City. He attended Oklahoma State University and earned a degree in Biology. He went on to medical school at the University of Oklahoma specializing in anesthesia. Ken currently works as an anesthesiologist at Mercy Hospital. He has been married for 33 years with two daughters and 4 grandchildren.
Abstract - Basic introduction to exoplanets and how to participate in observations. There is a website specifically set up to introduce people to exoplanets and allow them to participate in authentic research whether a person has a telescope or not. Anyone from junior high school through retirees can participate. There will be QR codes on his slides at the end that can be scanned for direct links to three different sites associated with Exoplanet Watch. He will also have some stickers to pass out, courtesy of NASA, that have the same QR codes on the back.
Like so many from his generation, he became interested in astronomy as a child watching the first moon landing. His first telescope was a Tasco but he decided to jump in more seriously during COVID. He started with an 8-inch Celestron SCT and was hooked.
The main question for Ken, and most people studying exoplanets, is whether or not there are habitable planets like earth. And more importantly, are there earth-like planets in our neighborhood of the Milky Way galaxy? Ken began his quest doing deep-space observing and photography and ran across an article about Exoplanet Watch. He became involved because it allowed him to do more than just take pictures! He could participate in real data gathering using the same equipment he was using for his deep-space photography. From his backyard in Oklahoma City, he could observe a planet transiting a star light years away. That just blew his mind! He could then take his data and run it through a program called EXOTIC which graphically generates a light curve that shows the transit. This data is then uploaded to a site that serves as a database for real astronomers and NASA scientists to consult for their research. The telescope in the picture is what he uses to make his observations. It’s a Celestron 11-inch EdgeHD. He also uses ZWO equipment to gather the data.
Ken Mason has been a member of the Oklahoma City Astronomy Club for only a few years but it has helped him connect with other people interested in exoplanets and provided opportunities for observing. He didn’t know that CRO existed. Ken hopes to get a few people interested in Exoplanet Watch and help them participate in this exciting new branch of astronomy.
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We will have the new Club shirts for sale at the meeting.
OKC Astronomy Club Meeting - Friday, November 8th, 2024 - 7 PM
Science Museum of Oklahoma Auditorium
Speaker: Richard J. Goodrich
(Ph.D., Ancient History, University of St Andrews, Scotland)
Title: Fear and Loathing in the Heavens: The 1910 Return of Halley’s Comet
In 1705, Edmond Halley liberated humanity from the belief that comets were portents of doom; two centuries later, in 1910, as Halley’s Comet returned to perihelion, newspapers and magazines, religious leaders, misguided theorists, and shameless grifters managed to rekindle that fear. When astronomers announced that the earth would pass through the comet’s tail, opportunists exploited human anxiety—often with fatal consequences.
Drawing on material from his book, Comet Madness: How the 1910 Return of Halley’s Comet (almost) Destroyed Civilization, historian Richard J. Goodrich offers an entertaining lecture about the limits of human rationality and the ways a media more interested in profits than the truth can terrorize society. This will be a fascinating and relevant look at the nexus of the scientific process and media hype and rumor in a phenomenon that was understood yet had historic roots of fear and uncertainty. Dr. Goodrich will introduce some prominent players whose fame has faded and describe some of the consequences of this misinformation to ordinary people.
Biography: Richard J. Goodrich taught late-Roman and early-church history in British and American universities. During his teaching career, Goodrich published six books in his field. His Reader’s Greek New Testament (Zondervan, 2003, 2008, 2015) is an academic bestseller, with more than 40,000 copies in print.
After twenty years in the classroom, Goodrich resigned his teaching position at Gonzaga University to focus on writing for a general audience. His debut work was Comet Madness: How the 1910 Visit of Halley’s Comet (Almost) Destroyed Civilization (Prometheus, 2023). Described as “a fascinating look at historical issues that we still struggle with today—media overhype, the tension between the scientific process and the need for headlines,” Comet Madness explored the hysteria produced by newspapers more interested in profits than the truth.
This was followed by the recently released L. A. Birdmen: West Coast Aviators and the First Airshow in America (Prometheus, 2024). “A deeply researched look into the irrepressible desire to fly and those who would stop at nothing to achieve it,” L. A. Birdmen focuses on the contributions of West Coast aviators to the early history of flight.
Richard is a Peripatetic Historian, wandering the world and writing about the history of places. He currently lives in Taipei, Taiwan. Learn more about his current books and upcoming projects at https://richardjgoodrich.com.
When asked about how he became interested in the topic of Halley’s Comet, he replied:
Serendipity! I spent my teaching career working on Late Roman/Early Church History. While a professor at Gonzaga University I also taught the History department’s Senior Thesis class. This was the capstone project for all of our graduating students. They had to write a 10,000 word (about 30 typed pages) thesis researching a topic of their selection. Most of them struggled with this assignment, so
one year I decided to write a thesis in parallel with their effort and offer them an example of how to execute this task. To make it a little more difficult I decided to write my “thesis” in a less-familiar area of history and started digging through early twentieth century newspapers.
I was immediately intrigued by the panic that resulted from the 1910 return of Halley’s Comet. So much so, that my 10,000 word paper grew into a 100,000 word book.
What surprised me the most, and what is the central theme of the book, was the willingness of newspapers to publish stories they knew were untrue, just to boost their prophets. Sadly, little has changed over the past 100 years.
Dr. Richard J. Goodrich is a historian, author, and photographer.
He publishes two newsletters:
What’s New in Old News?: A weekly bulletin of quirky stories from the past.
The Peripatetic Historian: A monthly newsletter that combines expatriate ruminations, history, photography, and updates on current writing projects.
Learn more about the author at: www.richardjgoodrich.com
Find Richard on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rj_goodrich
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We have 5 copies of his book that we will offer as Door Prizes tonight!
If you order your own copy, use Amazon where I have found the price to be the cheapest!
Hope to see you tonight!
Eileen
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You should have asked that question about 24 years ago.
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