A great meeting in which Annette Pierre made a presentation about the relationship between Nebulas. Jeff Rebitzke did present John Towne’s monthly “What’s Up”, since John was unable to attend. Following the meeting a large crowd including students/parents of the Stone mountain middle school and the Dunwoody Charter School joined us for stargazing and the Orionid Meteor Shower. Click the image to link to the gallery for more pictures.

Join us for a teleconference on Wednesday, May 9th to learn all about Our Magnetic Sun with solar scientist and engaging presenter Dr. Bryan Mendez. This summer promises plenty of solar viewing opportunities. Be sure to be armed with sunscreen and solar trivia. And get ready for the newest Outreach ToolKit, Our Magnetic Sun, to be released the same week!
To join the Teleconference on Wednesday, May 9th at 9:00 pm Eastern call the toll-free conference call line: 1-888-455-9236
Call anytime after 8:45 pm the evening of the telecon. An operator will answer and:
- You will be asked for the passcode: NIGHT SKY NETWORK
- You will be asked to give your NAME and the CLUB you belong to, and number of people listening with you.
Find the presentation slides online here or download them here.
Clear skies,
Theo Ramakers

As a member of the Charlie Eliiott Chapter you can attend the Night Sky Network conference calls.
Get ready for the public’s questions about the “end of the world” happening this year. Arm yourself with history, facts, and humor with this telecon from leading astronomer, cultural anthropologist, and popular writer Anthony Aveni.

To join the Teleconference on Thursday, March 22nd at 9:00 pm Eastern, call the toll-free conference call line: 1-888-455-9236

Call anytime after 8:45 pm the evening of the telecon. An operator will answer and:
- You will be asked for the passcode: NIGHT SKY NETWORK
- You will be asked to give your NAME and the CLUB you belong to, and number of people listening with you.
You can  download the presentation but you need to log in to the NSN website first.
http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/club/download-showdoc.cfm/2012S.ppt?Doc_ID=488&Doc_Filename=2012S%2Eppt 
Clear Skies,
Theo Ramakers

Frank and Theo did participate at the Career Day event at Princeton Elementary School in Lithonia. 45 real interested students in the advance sciences class listened to the presentations about Curiosity and what kind of jobs make this possible. Frank presented how to analize rocks to see if they come from Space. They were very excitited about what they learned and after the meeting they were ready to start the design of the next space probe to be launched from KSC.
Clear skies,
Theo

Wow, what a great meeting with the feature presentation “Saturn” presented by Dr. Julius Benton, followed by Steve Phillips “November 2011 – Observing 101″. With clear skies, a large crowd with 19 telescopes and binos made it to the “Jon Wood Astronomy Field”, to observe 2 ISS passes and the transit of the GRS and Io on Jupiter in the beautiful night sky. Click here for some pictures.

A great potluck dinner meeting with the feature presentation presented by Clay S. Turner: “Astro Photo Talk” (images (c) C Turner), a short update on our Outreach and AL activities, followed by Steve Phillips “September 2011 – Observing 101″ . With clear skies, members of the chapter with a lot of scopes and 3 binos made it to the Jon Wood Astronomy Field, where a large group of students and parents of the Stone Mountain Middle School joined us for observingClick here for some pictures. A great meeting and evening.
Clear skies,
Theo Ramakers

On Thursday, September 22, 2011, Dr. Ned Wright will present Exploring the Dark Side of the Solar System with WISE.

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) Mission is a NASA-funded mission that is providing a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the Universe. Among the objects WISE is currently studying are asteroids, the coolest and dimmest stars, and the most luminous galaxies.

Dr. Ned Wright of University of California at Los Angeles is principal investigator for the WISE Mission. Ned grew up in Fairfax County, Virginia, on land once owned by George Washington. He built a 6 inch Newtonian telescope while in high school, and ground and polished the mirror himself.

To log into the Telecon on Thursday, September 22nd, between 8:45 – 9:00pm (Eastern Time):

Use the IYA toll-free conference call line: 1-888-455-9236

An operator will answer and:

You will be asked for the passcode: NIGHT SKY NETWORK
You will be asked to give your NAME and the CLUB you belong to, and number of people listening with you.
Find the PowerPoint and other download links here:
http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=473
Hope to hear you on the call!
Clear Skies,
Theo Ramakers

I like the way this tool demonstrates light polution and how effective lighting can reduce the same, and save on energy.  Click here for the tool.
Clear skies
Theo

This is a reminder message for the Chapter Meeting this coming Saturday October 2nd with observing after the meeting, weather permitting. Stephen Ramsden will present his “Binaries and Conspiracies”. So come out and enjoy the great presentation and the great company at Charlie Elliott!!
Clear skies,
Theo Ramakers

Frank Garner and Theo Ramakers went to Madison on 9/24 for an astronomy event for the Astronomy and Science clubs at the school. the program did give the students a good feel for the relative distances in the solar system, as they walked accross the football field with the tiny earth to the location where earth orbits the sun, which was depicted by a Sun poster on the side of a metal bin. They were able to see some sunspots and solar flares through visual light and H-alpha scopes and learned how telescopes work and had a chance to look through the scope a student helped put together. About 30 students did learn some interesting things about the solar system.
Thanks to Mrs Elo for inviting us.
Theo