The next educational meeting of the San Juan Stargazers will be on Thursday, Aug. 6, starting at 6 p.m. with our social hour and snacks. The program will begin at 7 p.m.
We meet at the Community United Methodist Church at 434 Lewis St. Use the side door off the parking lot into the kitchen and then into the fellowship hall. Just come in and take a seat. The main doors to the church remain locked.
The educational part of our meeting beginning at 7 p.m. lasts about 1.5 hours.
A suggestion made at our last meeting is to have shorter learning segments. And each month we will have a member present a lesson on a cellphone app that they use to study the night sky. We will get everyone on the app before they leave, so bring your phone and leave with a treasure.
We have used our wonderful calendars that we sell every year to make a learning tool. We call it our Astronomy 101. We will have a short lesson using the calendar photos. Then we will have our James Webb lesson. This month we will study the Pillars of Creation, which started with the Hubble Telescope. It is amazing to compare the differences between the photos taken by the two telescopes.
The Pillars is probably the most famous astronomy photo and is considered by Time Magazine to be among the 100 most famous photos of all time. You will enjoy learning interesting details about this fascinating site.
We end our meeting with time for discussion. It is said that when alien life is found it will change the world. These discussions help prepare us for such an experience, and it is an exciting way to end our program.
We also will be starting a recording method for everyone to keep track of the lessons they have experienced.
Star party planned for Aug. 12
We will try again on Aug. 12 to have a star party near Hatcher Lake. Drive North on Piedra Road 4.7 miles from U.S. 160. If you can see Hatcher Lake to your left you have gone too far, but you are very close. Try to watch your odometer because 4.7 miles is close to the road that goes left off Piedra. There is also a sign that says La Ventana.
If you can get there during daylight (it is a beautiful place to be) you will see a parking lot on a small road to the left off Piedra with a wooden lavatory and a big fishing pier. The road makes a big loop through the trees just south of the Hatcher dam.
For a star party we set up telescopes in the parking lot and then park on the road, which is on a hill, so we get no lights from cars on Piedra. Good luck finding it. It should be worth the effort. Coming at dusk is best.
Join the Stargazers
If you want to join the San Juan Stargazers you can do it at this meeting or you can check out our website, sanjuanstargazers.org, where we have information about astronomy, our local club and the Astronomical League, which is a large group of people from all over the U.S. that you automatically belong to when you join the Stargazers.
There are beautiful photos throughout the website.
We look forward to our meeting. Everyone is invited to come because the James Webb Space Telescope was made for all people on Earth so we know what an exciting time we live in. You can come as a family, and I assure you it will increase your discussion time.
Come and get excited about life, James Webb discoveries and the entire amazing universe. We hope to see you there.
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