The current gate closure time is 7 p.m. After that time, a code is needed for park entry (& access to the astronomy field).



2016 Events

  • 2016-12-10 CE Astronomy Meeting
    David Whalen, Observing Supervisor, called the meeting to order. There were 15 members and guests in attendance.  David Whalen, Observing Supervisor, presented “All of the Above.” Members and guests enjoyed good food and company during our quarterly potluck.  Available downloads are the detailed meeting minutes, David Whalen’s “All of the Above,” and the December Target List. The monthly Sky Map may be downloaded from skymaps.com.
  • 2016-11-19 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Tim Geib, Chapter Director, called the meeting to order. There were 31 members and guests in attendance.  David Whalen, Observing Supervisor, presented “All of the Above.”  Dan Thoman presented an outreach update and discussed upcoming outreach events. Our guest speaker, PhD candidate Dicy Saylor, presented her research on stellar rotation.  Available downloads are the detailed meeting minutes, David Whalen’s “All of the Above,” and the November Target List. The monthly Sky Map may be downloaded from skymaps.com.
  • 2016-10-29 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Tim Geib, Chapter Director, called the meeting to order. There were 25 members and guests in attendance.  David Whalen, Observing Supervisor, presented “All of the Above.”  Guest speaker, PhD candidate Jeremy Jones, discussed his research on type A stars.  The weather was excellent and there were 50 people on the observing field and 16 telescopes.  Available downloads are the detailed meeting minutes, David Whalen’s “All of the Above,” and the October Target List. The monthly Sky Map may be downloaded from skymaps.com.
  • 2016-09-10 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Tim Geib, Chapter Director, called the meeting to order. There were 31 members and guests in attendance.  David Whalen, Observing Supervisor, presented “All of the Above.”  Dan Thoman presented an outreach update and discussed upcoming outreach events.  Members and guests enjoyed good food and company during our quarterly potluck.  Available downloads are the detailed meeting minutes, David Whalen’s “All of the Above,” and the September Target List. The monthly Sky Map may be downloaded from skymaps.com.
  • 2016-08-06 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Tim Geib, Chapter Director, called the meeting to order. There were 31 members and guests in attendance.  David Whalen, Observing Supervisor, presented “All of the Above.”  Dan Thoman presented an outreach update and discussed upcoming outreach events.  Guest speaker, PhD candidate Tiffany Clements, discussed her research on low mass stars.  Available downloads are the detailed meeting minutes, David Whalen’s “All of the Above,” and the August Target List. The monthly Sky Map may be downloaded from skymaps.com.
  • 2016-07-09 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Tim Geib, Chapter Director, called the meeting to order. There were 28 members and guests in attendance.  David Whalen, Observing Supervisor, presented “All of the Above.”  Dan Thoman presented an outreach update and discussed upcoming outreach events.  Theo Ramakers completed the Astronomical League’s Analemma program.  Marie Lott completed the Astronomical League’s Herschel 400 program.  Congratulations to Theo and Marie!  Guest speaker, Phil Sacco, discussed mythology as it relates to astronomy.  Due to severe weather, observing after the meeting was cancelled.   Available downloads are the detailed meeting minutes, David Whalen’s “All of the Above,” and the July Target List. The monthly Sky Map may be downloaded from skymaps.com.
  • 2016-06-04 CE Astronomy Meeting
    David Whalen, Observing Supervisor, presented “All of the Above.”  There were 34 members and guests in attendance.  After the meeting, there was no observing due to weather.  However, a few members stayed to show a new amateur astronomer how to use her telescope.  During the impromptu “class,” Jupiter and Vega were observed with the telescope.  Mars was observed naked eye. Available downloads are the detailed meeting minutes, and David Whalen’s “All of the Above” and the June target list. The monthly Sky Map may be downloaded from skymaps.com.
  • 2016-05-07 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Officer elections were held, with Tim Geib, David Whalen, and Brian Tucker being elected as Chapter Director, Observing Supervisor, & Recording Secretary, respectively. Tim Geib gave the featured presentation on remote observing and image. Twenty-nine members and guests in attendance at the meeting. Clear weather allowed observing afterwards with about 25 people present on the field. Available downloads are the detailed meeting minutes, and David Whalen’s “All of the Above” and his May target list. The monthly Sky Map may be downloaded from skymaps.com.
  • 2016-04-09 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Thirty-four members and guests attended our April meeting and enjoyed an excellent talk on gravitational waves by Dr. Erin Bonning of Emory University. After the meeting, everyone present adjourned to the astronomy field for a good night of observing. Available downloads are the detailed meeting minutes, David Whalen’s “All of the Above“, and the April target list. The monthly Sky Map may be downloaded from skymaps.com.
  • 2016-03-12 CE Astronomy Meeting
    The March meeting for the Charlie Elliott Chapter of the Atlanta Astronomy Club was held on 3/12/16 in the Campbell Aquatic Building at the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Management property in Mansfield, Georgia. There were twenty-five members and guests in attendance for our meeting and quarterly potluck dinner. No observing was possible after the meeting due to clouds. Available downloads are the detailed meeting minutes, David’s “All of the Above“, and his March target list. The monthly Sky Map may be downloaded from skymaps.com.
  • 2016-02-06 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Prior to the regular meeting, Van Macatee held workshop #2  on PixInsight, with 11 members present. Twenty-seven members and guests attended the February chapter meeting. David Whalen presented his enthusiastic “All of the Above” monthly observing talk, Jack Fitzmier gave out NSN awards, and Dr. Michael Covington gave a splendid talk on “The Missing Messier Objects and the Hunt for M102″. Intrepid astrophotographers met on the field afterwards to wait out the clouds for a night of imaging. Available downloads are the detailed meeting minutes, David’s “All of the Above“, and his February target list. The monthly Sky Map may be downloaded from skymaps.com.
  • 2016-01-09 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Prior to the regular meeting, Van Macatee led a highly informative astrophotography workshop on PixInsight, with 9 members present. Twenty-one members attended the January chapter meeting. Dan Llwellyn was our guest speaker, presenting a talk about the new Sony A7S camera. Dan Thoman gave a summary of our outreach efforts and David Whalen presented his enthusiastic “All of the Above” monthly observing talk. Due to bad weather, the scheduled field workshop on AutoGuiding will be rescheduled. Available downloads are the detailed meeting minutes, David’s “All of the Above“, and his January target list. Van’s PixInsight workshop handout is available on our Astrophotography page. The monthly Sky Map may be downloaded from skymaps.com.

2015 Events

  • 2015-12-12 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Twenty-five people attended our December chapter meeting & holiday potluck, featuring our first ever gift exchange and David’s “All of the Above” observing talk. Despite the dismal weather forecast, 20 members and guests went to the field afterwards. Van Macatee gave an informative field workshop on polar alignment, with a demo of Backyard EOS. Available downloads are the detailed meeting minutes, David’s “All of the Above“, and his December target list.
  • 2015-11-14 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Twenty people attended our November chapter meeting.  Daniel Herron gave a great talk about the International Space Station and David Whalen gave his always entertaining presentation on what’s up in the sky this month. After the meeting 55+ people gathered on the field for observing. About a dozen participated in Van Macatee’s beginning AP field workshop. Available downloads are the detailed meeting minutes and David’s “All of the Above” talk with observing targets and upcoming celestial events.
  • 2015-10-10 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Despite the rainy day, we had 21 people come out for our October meeting. Director Jack Fitzmier began the meeting with information about the Astronomical League’s observing programs and presented several AstroLeague awards. Guest speaker David Yenerall gave a stunning photographic tour of the Gemini South Observatory in Chile. David Whalen wrapped things up with an entertaining talk about what to look for in the sky this month. Due to the weather, there was no observing after the meeting. Available downloads are the detailed meeting minutes, as well as David’s monthly target list and his “All of the Above” talk with observing targets and upcoming celestial events.
  • 2015-09-19 CE Astronomy Meeting and Observing
    Twenty-two members attended our first meeting of the fall. We enjoyed a friendly potluck meal and held chapter elections. Congratulations to our new officers: Director, Jack Fitzmier; Observing Supervisor, David Whalen; and Recording Secretary, Valorie Whalen. After the meeting we enjoyed “International Observe the Moon Night” on the observing field with guests from East Newton Elementary School. We counted 54 people on the field!  Available downloads are the meeting announcements, detailed meeting minutes, and David’s “All of the Above” talk with observing targets and upcoming celestial events. Photos are here.
  • 2015-08-22 CE Astronomy Observing
    Our final “Summer Under the Stars” observing session for 2015 was held on the Astronomy Field. Clouds were floating around all night, but we enjoyed old and new friends, a long, bright ISS pass, a pretty Saturn pairing with the first quarter moon, and lots of lightning dancing in the distance. Overall, a very pleasant evening with 18 observers on the field. Jack handed out his Target List for August 2015.
  • 2015-07-18 CE Astronomy Observing
    Another nice stargazing event, the second of our “Summer Under the Stars” series, was held on the Astronomy Field. Despite the sky being about 40% clouds, we had 15 scopes and 27 enthusiastic stargazers on the field. Saturn put on a great show, and clear pockets of the night sky opened up for deep sky targets as well.  Jack handed out his Target List for July 2015.
  • 2015-06-20 CE Astronomy Observing
    We had an enjoyable stargazing event, the first of our “Summer Under the Stars” on the Astronomy Field. Approximately 15 telescopes and 25 stargazers gathered on the field to explore the night sky.  The evening’s stargazing handouts were Jack’s Target List for June 2015 and the monthly Sky Map from skymaps.com.
  • 2015-05-16 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Phil Sacco gave a fun talk to a standing-room-only crowd on the mythology of the night sky. Board elections did not take place; they were later rescheduled to take place at the potluck meeting on September 19, 2015. Observing was held on the Jon Wood Astronomy Field after the meeting.
  • 2015-04-18 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Click here for Meeting Minutes.
  • 2015-03-21 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Click here for Meeting Minutes. A well attended meeting with 34 attendees. Everyone enjoyed the potluck and the book review by Jack Fitzmier. Steve Siedentop presented What’s Up for March. Observing did not take place on Jon Wood Astronomy Field due to weather.
  • 2015-02-21 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Click here for Meeting Minutes. 32 members and guests were in attendance. Sam Quinn, PhD candidate at GSU, gave a great presentation on exoplanet detection. Steve Siedentop presented What’s Up for February. The weather did not cooperate and there was no observing after the meeting.
  • 2015-01-17 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Click here for Meeting Minutes. A well attended and crowded meeting with 42 attendees. Elgin Leary gave a presentation on stellar formation. John Towne presented What’s Up for January. Observing took place on Jon Wood Astronomy Field. Fifty-three people were in attendance with 12 telescopes and one pair of binoculars.

2014 Events

  • 2014-12-20 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Click here for detailed Meeting Minutes. 42 Members and guests attended the meeting and potluck. Steve Siedentop led the meeting. The December Target List is available for download here.  The evening weather did not cooperate and there was no observing on Jon Wood Astronomy Field.
  • 2014-11-22 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Click here for detailed Meeting Minutes. 15 Members and guests attended the meeting. Steve Siedentop led the meeting. The November Target List is available for download here.  The evening weather did not cooperate and there was no observing on Jon Wood Astronomy Field.
  • 2014-10-18 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Click here for detailed Meeting Minutes. 18 Members and guests attended the meeting. John Towne led the meeting and gave the What’s Up presentation which is available for download here.  The October Target List is available for download here.  The weather was beautiful and there were 25 members and visitors on Jon Wood Astronomy Field with 6 telescopes.
  • 2014-09-20 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Click here for detailed Meeting Minutes. 50 Members and guests attended the meeting and potluck. Steve Siedentop lead the meeting. Steve Siedentop gave John Towne the floor for the What’s Up presentation which is available for do
    wnload here.  The September Target List is available for download here.  The weather was beautiful and there were over over 100 members and visitors on Jon Wood Astronomy Field with 31 telescopes!
  • 2014-08-23 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Click here for detailed Meeting Minutes. 52 Members and guests attended the meeting. Steve Siedentop lead the meeting. The main presentation was Nicole Cabrera’s Exoplanet Detection.  Steve Siedentop gave John Towne the floor for the What’s Up presentation which is available for download here.  The August Target List is available for download here.  The weather was less than optimal early on, but the skies cleared and there were over two dozen telescopes on the field and just over 75 members and visitors! Gallery images of the meeting are available here.
  • 2014-07-26 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Click here for detailed Meeting Minutes. 51 Members and guests attended the meeting. Steve Siedentop lead the meeting. The main presentation was given by Dr. Rachel Kuzio de Naray and discussed her research on black holes.  Steve Siedentop gave John Towne the floor for the What’s Up presentation which is available for download here.  The July Target List is available for download here.  The weather was great and we were graced with clear skies.  Dr. Kuzio de Naray joined us on Jon Wood Astronomy Field for a night of observing under the dark skies of Charlie Elliot.  There were over twenty telescopes on the field and just over 75 members and visitors! Gallery images of the meeting are available here.
  • 2014-06-21 CE Astronomy Potluck Meeting and Observing
    Click here for detailed Meeting Minutes. 33 Members and guests attended the potluck. Steve Siedentop lead the meeting. The main presentation was given by Rich Jakiel on Lunar Geology.  Steve Siedentop gave John Towne the floor for the What’s Up presentation which is available for download here.  The June Target List is available for download here.  The weather was less than optimal, but approximately 25 optimistic visitors and members convened on Jon Wood Astronomy field and waited for the clouds to part.
  • 2014-05-03 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Click here for detailed Meeting Minutes. 51 Members and guests attended the meeting. Steve Siedentop lead the meeting. The main presentation was Dr. Bentz’s “Black Holes” and is available for download here. Jack Fitzmier did a book review and raffled off the book. Steve Siedentop gave John Towne’s What’s Up for May presentation which is available for download here.  The May Target List is available for download here.The weather was great, and there were over 20 telescopes on the field and just over 80 members and visitors! Gallery links will be available shortly.
  • 2014-04-05 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Click here for detailed Meeting Minutes. 33 Members and guests attended the meeting. John Towne lead the meeting. The main presentation was Dr. Benton’s “Saturn and ALPO”. Two CEA members made Telecope donations, Jack Fitzmier and 9 year old Evan Phillips. Thanks so much for this. John Towne’s What’s Up for April can be seen here. Because of the weather, observing was cancelled, but some members went to the JWF to look at Jupiter!!. For more links please click here and for the gallery here.
  • 2014-03-01 CE Astronomy Potluck Meeting and Observing
    Click here for Meeting Minutes. 59 Members and guests attended the Potluck meeting. Larry Owens gave a presentation about the restoration and rebuilding of “The Big-O” Telescope, Jack Fitzmier reviewed Dr. Jim Sowell’s book “The Naked Eye Sky” and Theo Ramakers presented the NASA/NSN Outreach Award to the 2013 receipients. John Towne’s What’s Up for March. Check the target list for March here. After the meeting it went to the Jon Wood Observing Field for the dedication of the Telescope Building and the two 16″ Telescopes. Please click the link for pictures of the meeting, building dedication and observing session.
  • 2014-02-01 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Click here for Meeting Minutes. 27 Members and guests attended the meeting. Dr. James Sowell from GT made a presentation about “The Aloah Telescope, Steve Siedentop presented John Towne’s What’s Up for February Check the target list for February here. Theo Ramakers reviewed some of CEA’s outreach events for February and March . For pictures of the meeting please Click here . Because of the weather observing was cancelled.
  • 2014-01-04 CE Astronomy Meeting
    Click here for Meeting Minutes. A well attended and crowded meeting with 40 attendees. Stephen Ramsden presented on Solar Observing Outeach and his Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Program, followed by John Towne’s interesting What’s Up for January. Theo Ramakers reviewed CEA’s outreach efforts for 2013 and for pictures of the meeting please Click here . Because of the weather observing was cancelled.

2013 Events

  • 2013-12-07 CE Astronomy Meeting and Observing Click here for Meeting Minutes. Over 30 individuals attended the Potluck Dinner meeting at the Campbell Building. Theo reported on outreach and Mutual Jovian Moon events for 2014/15. Steve presented John Town’s “What’s Up” After the dinner, Steve raffled the many door prizes with the Explore Scientific AR102 going to Frank Garner. Thanks to all for donating the great prizes. Cloudy skies and rain, so no observing after the meeting. For pictures of the meeting please Click here .
  • 2013-11-02 CE Astronomy Meeting and Observing Click here for Meeting Minutes. Another well attended meeting and observing session. Dr. Richard Schmude presented his findings of the research he did on the North Polar Cap of Mars. John Town presented his always interesting “What’s Up” and Jack Fitzmier did another book review. Theo reported that the MOU was signed by CEA and that we expect construction of the telescope shed to start very soon. :-) After the meeting it went to the Jon Wood Field where we ended up with 19 telescopes and many visitors from nearby towns as well as participants of CEWC’s Hunting and Learning program For pictures of the meeting please Click here .
  • 2013-10-12 CE Astronomy Meeting and Observing Click here for Meeting Minutes. Opening remarks by Steve Siedentop followed by Theo Ramakers with am update on Outreach and a request for help.  Next the first of Jack Fitzmier’s book reviews of Dava Sobel’s book: Longitude.  The main presentation was presented by Rich Jakiel on Imaging with DSLRs, and John Towne closed the presentations with his  monthly “What’s Up” for October, after which everyone went to the Jon Wood Field for observing and outreach. For pictures of the meeting please Click here .
  • 2013-09-07 CE Astronomy Potluck Meeting and Observing Click here for Meeting Minutes. Opening remarks by Steve Siedentop followed by Ken Poshedly’s talk about ALPO. John Towne’s monthly “What’s Up” for September was followed by Theo’s update on the Telescope Shed for the Jon Wood Field and our outreach events. Following the movie, everyone went to the field where 12 members of the AOC, a group of 15 Educators who attended a workshop at CEWC, and 50 students, parents and their siblings from East Newton Elementary joined us in looking at the beautiful sky over the Jon Wood Field. We must have had over 100 people at the field. :-)  Click here for pictures.
  • 2013-08-10 CE Astronomy Meeting and Observing Click here for Meeting Minutes. Opening remarks by Steve Siedentop followed by Ken Poshedly’s talk about ALCon2013. Dan Llewellyn presented Imaging in Color and John Towne’s monthly “What’s Up” for August was followed by Theo’s update on the Telescope Shed for the Jon Wood Field. We were glad to see a group of students from the Lawrenceville Science and Engineering school watch the perseids and other sky objects through our scopes. Click here for pictures.
  • 2013-07-13 Chapter Meeting Click here for Meeting Minutes. Some announcements by Steve Siedentop and Ken Poshedly. John Towne’s monthly “What’s Up” for July was followed by Jack Fitzmier’s presentation on the AL’s observing programs. We were glad to see a number of new faces again and even 5 young astonomers showed up with their parents! Cloudy skies, and rain limited this month’s activities to the meeting. Click here for pictures.
  • 2013-06-08 Potluck dinner Meeting Click here for Meeting Minutes. This was our quarterly potluck dinner meeting with almost a dozen new faces :-) . We watched the NASA movie “The 3D Sun”. John Towne’s monthly “What’s Up” was presented by Jeff Rebitzke. Cloudy skies, so the field activity was limited to social discussions. Click here for pictures.
  • 2013-05-11 Chapter Meeting Click here for Meeting Minutes. This month our members elected the new board with Steve Siedentop as the new director. A presentation of the new draft NSN Planet Quest generated a lot of discussion. John Towne’s monthly “What’s Up” concluded the meeting. Click here for pictures.
  • 2013-04-13 Chapter Meeting and observing Click here for Meeting Minutes. About a dozen attended the meeting. After some announcements and John Towne’s monthly “What’s UP” presentation, Larry Owens made his presentation about how to make time lapse movies. Such as the one he did for meteor showers and other events. A great observing session at the Jon Wood Field after the meetingClick here for pictures.
  • 2013-03-16 Chapter Meeting, Observing and Comet hunt Click here for Meeting Minutes. Aother great pot luck dinner meeting with a movie. We finished with John Towne’s monthly “What’s Up”. A great observing session at the Jon Wood Field after the meeting and a very successfull Comet hunt for C/2011 L4 PanStars at the Dove field. Click here for pictures.
  • 2013-02-09 Chapter Meeting and observing Click here for Meeting Minutes. A great meeting with an NSN Award Cerimony in which 8 members received the award, followed by a reintroduction to the Virtual Telescope by Marie Lott, and an update on large scale solar imaging by Theo and a few announcements. We finished with John Towne’s monthly “What’s Up”. A great observing session at the Jon Wood Field after the meeting with 20 scopes and binos. Click here for pictures.
  • 2013-01-12 Chapter Meeting and observing Click here for Meeting Minutes. A great meeting informative for beginners as well as advanced observers: Telescopes 101 presented by Larry Owens and many members of the Chapter, followed by a few announcements, and finished with John Towne’s monthly “What’s Up”. A great observing session at the Jon Wood Field after the meeting to practice what was learned. Click here for pictures.