Events

Annular Eclipse Viewing

Sunday, May 20, 6:30 pm, White Rock Overlook Park

An annular eclipse occurs when the moon moves directly between Earth and the sun, thus appearing slightly smaller to observers' eyes; the effect is a bright ring, or annulus of sunlight, around the silhouette of the moon. Join PEEC and the Pajarito Astronomers at the White Rock Overlook Park Soccer Fields to view the eclipse just before the sun goes below the horizon.  We'll start at 6:30 and watch through a telescope with a solar filter until the sun goes down. Eclipse viewing glasses and pinhole viewers will be available at the event. Free, no registration required.

Doing Good and Doing Well: Embodying Your Values in Your Investment Choices

May 21, 7:00 pm at PEEC

Money talks – what does yours say? While many people shop carefully and consciously in order to maximize their impact and minimize their footprint, relatively few people try to do the same with their savings and investments. Those who ask their financial advisors about investing according to their values are often discouraged – but you can direct your money’s power in the marketplace to shape the world according to your values, and you can do this without sacrificing competitive returns. Widely available sustainable investment opportunities make a diverse, well-balanced portfolio possible for nearly every socially conscious investor. Free, no registration required. Speaker biography posted on event details page.

Transit of Venus Talk

May 24, 7:00 pm at PEEC

Astronomy professor and former LANL atmospheric science program leader Paul Mutschlecner comes to PEEC to talk about the upcoming transit of Venus. The transit on June 5 is the second of two in the last 8 years, but the next one won’t happen until 105 years from now. This is your chance to see one! Part of the transit will be visible here in Los Alamos and this talk will discuss how and when to see it. The talk will go over the reason transits have been important astronomically in the past, and will also cover previous expeditions around the world to observe transits of Venus in the 1600s and 1700s. This is a preview for a talk he’ll be giving on a tour on the big island of Hawaii on the day before the transit.

Coming up (details on PEEC Calendar)

June 3 Leonora Curtin Wildlife Preserve Outing - Registration available
June 5 Transit of Venus Viewing
June 5 Summer Family Evenings: Taxidermy Museum
June 10 Hike to Guaje Canyon Overlook
June 12 Summer Family Evenings: Owls
June 17 Birdscape Yard Tour of White Rock
June 19 Summer Family Evenings: Meet the PEEC Critters
June 21 Wildflower Walk
June 26 Summer Family Evenings: Hug a Tree (and Survive)
July 7 Natural Wonders of Los Alamos: Veronica Springs
July 10 Summer Family Evenings: Harrell House of Natural Oddities
July 11-25 Fly Tying Classes with Bill Orr - Registration available
July 17 Summer Family Evenings: Raptor Center Visit
July 21 Galaxy Class - Registration available
July 24 Summer Family Evenings: Star Party
July 26 Wildflower Walk
July 31 Summer Family Evenings: Sea Otters and Rehabilitation
Aug 4 Natural Wonders of Los Alamos: Deer Trap Mesa - Registration available

Children's events

Kids Summer Gardening - starts June 5th

This popular summer class will run every Tuesday from June 5th to August 11th from 9-10:30, and is for kids entering grades K-4. Details and registration at PEEC Calendar.

Medicine Hawk's Mountain School - starts June 10th

A primitive survival skills class for kids entering grades 4-7, taught in the Jemez. This class will be taught by Rourke McDermott, an Eagle Scout who has been intensively studying primitive skills and wilderness survival skills for the last 3 years. Held on Saturdays (and two Sundays) June 10-July 28th from 1:30-3 pm.  $60/$48 members or 2nd child. Contact PEEC if you are interested in carpooling to the Jemez. See complete schedule at: Medicine Hawk's Mountain School.

Summer Outdoor Adventure Programs - June 11-29

PEEC offers three exciting weeks of outdoor science explorations for students entering grades 4-6 (Nature Odyssey) and grades 7-8 (LEAP). For more information and registration, see Summer Adventure Programs. These camps are now full (or nearly full). Waiting list available. Call for details.

Nature Playtimes

For toddlers and preschoolers, every Monday except holidays, 10:00 a.m.-11:30 p.m. Free, no registration required. Weather-related cancellations will be posted on the PEEC Calendar

PEEC News

YOU did it!

At the County Council meeting on May 16, the new nature center was ranked 3rd among the project proposals. It received funding for the Canyon Road location, and is projected to begin in 2013.

It will happen, and YOU helped make it happen! The letters sent, and the attendance at all the project meetings, truly made the difference! Thank you everyone!

For the latest information about the CIP projects, see Daily Post article:
http://ladailypost.drupalgardens.com/content/council-approves-8-cip-projects

Community Events

Solar Eclipse Glasses at Ottowi Station

Ottowi Station is selling "Eclipse Shades". Cost is less than $4.00. Lenses are made of our exclusive scratch resistant optical density 5, "Black Polymer" material. Eclipse Shades filter out 100% of harmful ultra-violet, 100% of harmful infrared, and 99.999% of intense visible light. These premium filters create a sharper ORANGE colored image of the sun.

Pajarito Astronomers Lecture

May 19, 2012, 5:00 p.m. at PEEC

Before our next Dark Night on May 19 we will be hosting a lecture at 5 pm with the El Valle Astronomers at PEEC.
Speaker: Sepp Rothwangl
Title: Doomsday Recently Departed! Anno Domini’s End of the World Plot.
Website: http://www.calendersign.com/en/bk_startime-info.php
Brief description of the talk: It is basically how Anno Domini was invented and how it is based upon ancient cosmology, the interpretation of the Bible and the Apocalypse, and the medieval assumed rate of precession.
Please come and hear this interesting talk before the Dark Night and meet our El Valle Astronomer counterparts.

Pajarito Astronomers Dark Night

May 19, 2012 at Spiro Soccer Field

Our next scheduled Dark Night will be Saturday, May 19th at the Spiro Soccer Field, Overlook Park, White Rock. Sunset will be at around 8 pm and we will try to make it to midnight unless the weather, cold, or fatigue interferes. Be sure to bring a jacket if you plan to spend some time with us as it will cool down as the evening progresses.  Three planets will be potentially visible. Venus, the brightest planet, will be prominent in the west until it sets around 10:30 pm. Telescopes will show it as a large narrow crescent. This will be our last chance to see Venus this year in a Dark Night, but we will try to view it next month during the June 5 transit of the sun! In addition to Venus, Mars and Saturn will be visible throughout the evening.  Saturn will have its rings at a 12 degree inclination and it and its moons should be a very nice sight. Mars unfortunately is receding rapidly and so we wont see many detail on its disk. We will also be viewing many of the highlights of the late winter and spring constellations. Such objects as the double stars Mizar in Ursa Major and gamma Leo, open star clusters like M44 and M67 in Cancer, the globular clusters Omega Centauri and M13 in Hercules, the galaxies M51 and M81 in Ursa Major and the planetary nebulae M27 and M57 are some of the possibilities that we may look at. The public is invited to attend at any time during the night and to stay and wander among the telescopes for as long as they wish. If it gets sufficiently dark, a naked eye tour of the constellations will be conducted with a laser pointer. Lets hope for good weather on May 19 and the other upcoming Dark Nights. See you there!

Co-op Rocks

May 19, 2012, 7 p.m.-midnight at UNMLA

Join in the fun May 19th 7pm to midnight for Co-opRocks! The 4 hours will be filled with a variety of activities, which reflect young adult interests. This event is the first in the Co-opRocks! series and will focus on local music. We have a main music/performance space and and an adjoining room for more activities (quieter space). Co-opRocks! is brought to you by the Los Alamos Co-op as part of our outreach program to young adults (high school and college age). The program is intended to provide young adults a venue to express their interests (music, art, theater, etc.) in a fun and safe atmosphere. We strive to share our cooperative values through this venue by sourcing local talent, allowing young aduults and the community to come support each other to make the event a success.

Friday Nights in Los Alamos

Fridays in June and July, 5-9 p.m., downtown LA

On summer Fridays, join in the fun at several places downtown, including the Historical Museum, the Bradbury museum, and several local businesses.

Trail Work Session

When: Monday, May 21, 5:30 to 7:30 PM
Who: Los Alamos Singletrack Association/Tuff Riders/Anybody Else
Where: Perimeter Trail parallel to Arizona Avenue between the Mitchell Trail and the cemetery
The Plan: Maintenance of grade dips, narrowing the trail back to a singletrack. Tools and hard hats will be provided. Wear long pants and sturdy shoes, bring water. No experience required, and a good way to get ready for the more difficult challenges ahead in rebuilding trails affected by post-Las Conchas fire flooding.

Items of Interest

Albino Hummingbird photos

An albino hummingbird was photographed in Virginia:
http://www.naturefriendmagazine.com/photos.pl?catid=9#