We had a great meeting on 10/9/21, with David Whalen and Steve Siedentop presenting. David gave his always-entertaining talk on sky events this month, and Steve presented a beginner’s guide to telescopes, barlows, eyepieces, observing programs, and more. About 15 members and guests enjoyed observing on the field afterwards. More observing on 10/30/201! Hope you can join us!

The indoor meeting for Sept 4, 2021 has been cancelled due to Covid concerns. We will still have observing on the field, weather permitting.

On Saturday, 9/4/21 at 6 pm, please join us for a “bring-your-own-sack-supper” gathering and a short talk about “What’s Up” in sky! This will be held in the Campbell Aquatic Center on Murder Creek Church Road, in the back woods of the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center nature preserve. All are welcome.

Weather-permitting, there will be observing on Jon Wood Astronomy Field immediately after the meeting.

Date: Saturday, 9/4/2021

Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM Eastern

Location: Campbell Aquatic Building, 2403 Murder Creek Church Road, Mansfield, GA 30055

For more details & driving directions, please visit the home page of our web site.

From observing chair David Whalen:
Thank you to all the members and guests that came out to Charlie Elliott WMA to make our August meeting a success. Our guest speaker, Scott Harris gave a very informative presentation on Lunar geology. Afterwards we had an excellent crowd on the observing field for visual observing, astrophotography, and socializing. I hope everyone had as good a time as I did!

From chapter director Mike Shaw:
Thanks to everyone one that participated in our July meeting. Our guest speaker Slava Sadykov, from Georgia State University, gave a very informative talk on Space Weather!

Our next regular in-person “semi-potluck dinner” meeting of the Charlie Elliott chapter of the Atlanta Astronomy Club with sky observing immediately afterwards (weather permitting) will be held at 7 p.m., Saturday, June 12, 2021

Where: Campbell Aquatics Building on Murder Creek Church Rd, inside the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center, just south of Mansfield, Georgia. To reach the meeting location, take Hwy 11, then turn onto Marben Farm Rd. (the entrance to the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center), then turn right onto Murder Creek Church Rd. (you will pass Elliott Trail on the right.) Follow Murder Creek Church Rd. until you reach the Aquatics Building on the left. For those using GPS to get at least TO the park, the address of the CEWC Visitor Center is 543 Elliott Trail, Mansfield, GA 30055. (Remember, this is NOT the actual meeting site.) Phone 770-784-3059 (the office closes at 4:30 p.m.)

Program: This will be our first venture back into dinner meetings, but very carefully. Thus, all are invited to bring your own meal and nonalcoholic drinks for the evening, but no sharing of food. The meeting itself will begin with welcoming remarks by Chapter Director Mike Shaw, followed by Observing Director Dave Whalen’s always factual (and entertaining) “Heavens Above” sky tour of the current month’s celestial objects. Afterwards will be the featured presentation, this month by longtime friend of Atlanta astronomy and Celestron Specialty Accounts Sales Manager Greg Bragg, whose topic will be “The State of Our Astronomy Industry”.

On Saturday, May 8, 2021 we will have our first in-person meeting of 2021! We will meet at 6:30 PM at the Aquatics Building on Murder Creek Church Rd. at the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center. To reach the meeting location, take Hwy 11, then turn onto Marben Farm Rd. (the entrance to the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center) and follow it to Murder Creek Church Rd. (You will pass Elliott Trail on the right.) Turn right onto Murder Creek Church Rd. and follow it until you reach the Aquatics Building on the left.

Note that just like at the observing sessions on Jon Wood field, we will, of course, continue to observe and follow those same Coronavirus face mask and social distancing precautions.

Two big things on the agenda: a most appreciated program on light pollution filters, and the annual election of our chapter officers (the Charlie Elliott Astronomy Club is a chapter of its parent organization, the Atlanta Astronomy Club). Our featured speaker is club member Amy Little, a.k.a “Amy Astro”.

After the meeting and weather-permitting we will have an observing session on Jon Wood Astronomy Field. Facemasks are strongly suggested.

Sunset will be at 7:23 p.m. Astronomical dusk ends (and maximum darkness begins) at 8:57 p.m.

The road to our indoor meeting location is ungated. However, to get to the observing field, please remember that the Elliott Trail automatic road gate at Marben Farm Rd. closes for incoming traffic at 5 PM., so be prepared to enter the gate code if you are headed to the observing field after that time. Guests without the code should plan to arrive before gate closure. The gate opens automatically for outgoing traffic as you approach it to leave.

On Saturday, April 10, 2021 we are offering the fourth in a series of joint online presentations with Fernbank Science Center featuring noted NASA astrophysicist and popular TV science host, Dr. Michelle Thaller.

The online program begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Time, with a short planetarium presentation by Fernbank’s planetary geologist Scott Harris. Following that will be a few remarks by Mike Shaw, director of the Charlie Elliott Astronomy Club about our club and its parent organization, the Atlanta Astronomy Club. Afterwards, Dr, Thaller will take us on a journey to the biggest black holes in the universe as we try to understand the mystery of how they got there in the first place and what they’re up to in our own Milky Way home.

All of the presentations will be streamed live via the Fernbank Science Center’s Facebook page .

In the evening we will have an observing session on Jon Wood Astronomy Field, weather permitting. This will be informal observing with social distancing and no program. Facemasks are strongly suggested.

Sunset will be at 8:02 p.m. Astronomical dusk ends (and maximum darkness begins) at 9:28 p.m.

The Elliott Trail automatic road gate at Marben Farm Rd. closes for incoming traffic at dusk., so be prepared to enter the gate code if you arrive afterwards. Guests without the code should plan to arrive before gate closure. The gate opens automatically for outgoing traffic as you approach it to leave.

On Saturday, February 6, 2021 we are offering the second in a series of joint online presentations with Fernbank Science Center featuring noted comet discoverer Don Machholz.

The online program begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Time, with a short planetarium presentation by Fernbank’s planetary geologist Scott Harris. Following that will be a few remarks by Mike Shaw, director of the Charlie Elliott Astronomy Club about our club and its parent organization, the Atlanta Astronomy Club. Afterwards, Don will present his personal account of visual comet-hunting over the years.

All of the presentations will be streamed live via the Fernbank Science Center’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/fernbankcenter.

In addition, club members will receive a special Zoom link that will enable them to ask questions of Don live right after his presentation. The entire event will be live on Facebook at the link above, so Zoom is optional but not required.

In the evening we will have an observing session on Jon Wood Astronomy Field, weather permitting. This will be informal observing with social distancing and no program. Facemasks are strongly suggested.

Sunset will be at 6:11 p.m. Astronomical dusk ends (and maximum darkness begins) at 7:36 p.m.

The Elliott Trail automatic road gate at Marben Farm Rd. closes for incoming traffic at 5 p.m., so be prepared to enter the gate code if you arrive afterwards. Guests without the code should plan to arrive before gate closure. The gate opens automatically for outgoing traffic as you approach it to leave.

On Friday, January 15, 2021 Fernbank Science Center and the Charlie Elliott Chapter of the Atlanta Astronomy Club will have a very special 2-hour edition of the FSC At-Home Planetarium Show. So that our audiences know what’s going on, here is the approximate schedule. Note that the featured talk from Charlie Elliott Astronomy about Arecibo will begin at about 8:00 p.m. EST.
This event will be streamed live via the Fernbank Science Center’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/fernbankcenter

7:00 p.m. EST Introduction and Star Talk
7:15 p.m. EST Video on Radio Astronomy and the ALMA Array
7:45 p.m. EST Welcome and Announcements for the Charlie Elliott Chapter of the Atlanta Astronomy Club (the general public is encouraged to continue to watch and ask questions via FB Comments)
8:00 p.m. EST Professor Loris Magnani: The Rise and Fall of the Arecibo Radiotelescope