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Next Meeting:
Friday, May 16th, 7:30 pm
University of Denver, Olin Hall, Room 105 Directions

Show and Tell Scheduled for May 16th General Meeting
Show-and-tellers: due to the success of the November show-and-tell, and also the limited amount of people who were able to present at that meeting, the E-Board has decided to have another show and tell at the May 16th general meeting. We ask that you please limit yourself to 10 to 20 minutes presentation time, and if you would like to reserve in advance, please feel free to call Keith Pool at (303) 718-7273 or e-mail me with your ideas at stargeezer9@msn.com.

Stephanie Pahl to Speak at the June General Meeting

Stephanie shows off Jolly Roger at the 2006 "Weekend Under the Stars"

Stephanie Pahl will give us a presentation on the Solar Analemma at the June general meeting. The Analemma is that elongated “figure 8” shape the sun seems to create in the sky when it is photographed at the same time of day at regular intervals throughout the year.

Many of you already know Stephanie, either through events at the society or through S&S Optica where she has worked since 1999. Stephanie became involved with the DAS through Larry Brooks, with whom she worked as a Denver Museum of Nature and Science volunteer in the planetarium. Larry bought her first red flashlight, introduced her to the DAS and got her the job at S&S Optica. She has been hooked on astronomy ever since.

A former Van Nattan Scholarship awardee, Stephanie has been a member of the DAS for 10 years. She put her scholarship to good use, receiving her Bachelor’s degree in the field of Physics and Mathematics in 2006. Her primary interest is in computational physics. She interned at a low-temperature physics lab, making finite element models of superconducting circuits. The lab was involved in making high sensitivity conductors used in the search for dark matter at the Soudan Mine in Minnesota.

In addition to working at S&S, She also teaches physics labs part time at Metro State College and the University of Colorado in Denver. She also teaches astronomy courses for the schools at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Her current area of research is in sonoluminescence, the conversion of acoustic energy to light.

The General meeting will be held on June 13th beginning at 7:30 pm at Olin Hall on the DU campus. Make plans now to attend the June general meeting and see one of our very own give a presentation! As usual, there will be a reception at Chamberlin Observatory following the meeting.

- Keith Pool, DAS Vice President

All attendees are invited to a reception at DU's Historic Chamberlin Observatory following the meeting, where there will be refreshments, conversation and -- weather permitting -- a chance to view the heavens through the 20-inch Clark-Saegmuller refractor.

The March meeting is the DAS Annual Banquet.

Recent Meeting Speakers

Bryan White presented his latest digital, 3-dimensional astronomical images, including his aurora pictures, at the DAS banquet in March, 2008.

David Grinspoon, DMNS, an internationally known Planetary Scientist who is funded by the ESA to conduct interdisciplinary research, spoke on the Venus Express Mission at the February 2008 meeting, which was simulcast on Second Life.

Mike Carroll captivated the general meeting audience in January 2008 with his beautiful and astronomically accurate space art and his knowledgeable presentation on "Alien Volcanoes" in the Solar System

Show and Tell (November 2007) Imaging presentations by Bryan Wilburn and Joe Gafford, and a look at Ivan Geisler's remounted 5-inch telescope.

Robert Bruner, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, entertained us with a fascinating (and only slightly expurgated) presentation on Greek Mythology and the Constellations at the October 2007 meeting

Dr. Richard McCray, University of Colorado (retired) presented "Supernova 1987A Revisited," showing and discussing the latest images and data from the most recent nearby supernova, at the August 2007 meeting.

In July 2007, Max Moe, University of Colorado, presented a talk called "The Evolution of Planetary Nebulae"

In June 2007, Dr. Mark Bottorff, Southwestern University, spoke on various creative and educational ways of observing the moon in his presentation "A Novice Lunatic's View of the Moon."

In May 2007, Dr. Dimitri Klebe of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science described the development and capabilities of an All Sky Infrared Visible Analyzer (ASIVA) he developed for an observatory in Chile.

Dr. John Bally, University of Colorado - Boulder, gave an exciting and richly illustrated presentation on The Birth of Stars and Planets at the April 2007 meeting

Dr. John Stevens, Director of Development, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, presented at the 2007 DAS Banquet in March 2007 on NASA's Orion Program and the Crew Exploratory Vehicle

Dr Daniel Baker, University of Colorado, Boulder, spoke in February 2007 about space weather and its effects on human technology

Dr. Mark Bottorff , Southwestern University, presented in January, 2007 on Active Galaxies: The most powerful engines in the universe.

DAS member Dr. Roger Clark presented at the September 8th, 2006 General Meeting on his cutting-edge work with the NASA Cassini mission Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) team.

Brian D. Warner, of the PDO, discussed ways that amateur astronomers can collect vital astronomical data on August 11th, 2006.

Bryan White, Nitescapes, Presented beautiful new 3D Slides of Aurora and Other Phenomena at the July 7, 2006 meeting.

Dr. John Spencer, Southwest Research Institute, spoke at the May 2006 DAS meeting on the recent discovery of Water Spouts on Saturn's moon Enceladus.