The November monthly meeting of the San Juan Stargazers will be on Thursday, Nov. 7, at the regular time of 6 p.m. for the social hour and 7 p.m. program time.
We will meet at our regular location — the Community United Methodist Church on Lewis Street. Please use the convenient parking lot and side door that leads into the kitchen and fellowship hall. (We keep the front doors locked.)
We will again have a member-speaker because there is so much talent in our club.
Dr. Andy Green, who worked at the Australian National Observatory near Sydney, will be speaking about his area of specialty: the formation of galaxies.
He is the son of Nancy Green, who volunteered for so many years with the Chimney Rock Interpretative Association (CRIA). Andy Green got involved with the San Juan Stargazers every time he came back to America for a visit with his parents and a has wonderful presentation for us.
He now has a home in Pagosa with a great view of Chimney Rock and he is our club’s resident expert, helping us in so many ways. He also helped Dr. Ericka Ellingson from the University of Colorado Boulder with the three northern lunar standstill programs in September and October.
The James Webb Space Telescope is discovering so many new galaxies (93 percent of the galaxies have never been seen before) that new information is daily being learned about their formation.
This is now one of the hottest topics in astronomy, and we are so fortunate to have Andy Green here to help us learn. I hope you will come to our meeting to get in on something well beyond exciting.
Andy Green was not only a quality professor, but he is a master teacher who will not be presenting material over our heads. He explains astronomical information in a way that makes it seem easy and understandable, and he will take the time needed for us to ask questions to learn and appreciate this amazing part of astronomy.
The whole community is invited, and probably students and their parents coming together would have the most memorable time.
We hope to see you all there.
Club activities
Our December monthly meeting will be on Dec. 5 at the regular times, with the program being a summary of the James Webb Space Telescope discoveries of 2024. At this time the discoveries are exciting, but, by December, they could be beyond our wildest dreams.
In January, February and March of 2025, we will be doing something new and fun at our monthly meetings. As a club, we like to encourage our membership in the areas of personal growth, increased participation and to expand our knowledge of the universe. We will do all three in the new year, and you do not want to miss this great opportunity.
Space mysteries
calendars available
We are selling the calendars for $15. That is not to order them, but to have them in your hands to take home. They are here. Half of them have been already sold.
If the calendar is being given as a gift to a child, there is a special $3 discount.
Northern lunar standstill t-shirts available
There is currently an opportunity to purchase a T-shirt with a photo of the 2023, 2024, and 2025 northern lunar standstill.
Last winter we had several San Juan Stargazers, with permission, hike from the gate at Chimney Rock to the Chacoan Great House to take a photo of the full moon between the pinnacles only visible in December and January.
For a short time, we are able to order black only T-shirts, in sizes small, medium, large and extra large. This project is not for profit to anyone. The shirts are $25 with the possibility of needing to add cost for postage.
This was only going to be available for club members, but I am certain that CRIA members, former members of both groups and people of Pagosa Springs who are crazy about Chimney Rock would want to share in this opportunity to tell everyone they see when wearing the shirt the amazing happening every 18.6 years of this alignment.
This was discovered in the 1980s by Dr. J. McKim Malville, and this is only the second time since then that people have been able to see it. The ancient people at Chimney Rock no doubt viewed it for thousands of years and it is what made the location known for it and turned it into an ancient astronomy site.
If interested, please send an email to Rwoman2000@aol.com with number of shirts, sizes, your name and phone number. Your word is good to make the order, and when they arrive, you will be called and then they are cash on delivery. They may not be here until January.
About
If you would like to join the San Juan Stargazers, you will also receive Reflector Magazine, which is the publication of the National Astronomical League of which you automatically become a member. To join both groups and get an excellent astronomy magazine, annual membership is only $25 per family.
You can join the club at any of our events or you can join using PayPal on our website, sanjuanstargazers.org.
Check out our continuously changing website with new information and spectacular photos. We can be your connection to our extraordinary universe.
