2007 Calendar

For individual club calendars, see AANC Resource Guide.

Events in previous years (Archives): 1996-2002 --||-- 2003 --||-- 2004 --||-- 2005 --||- 2006 -

January, 2007

15 January, Mon 7:30 pm - Dr. Jeff Cuzzi, NASA Ames Research Center: "Saturn's Rings: Ongoing Studies by Cassini" - Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street (at Presidio Avenue). The Cassini spacecraft arrived at Saturn in July 2004 and has provided many new insights into the structure and composition of SaturnÕs rings, and their dynamic interactions with nearby and embedded moonlets. By January 2007, the spacecraft will be at higher elevations above the ring plane than ever achieved before. New results will be put in the context of the big picture for understanding this fascinating system.

February, 2007

4 Feb 2007 Saturday. NCHALADA LXXIX - 9:30 am coffee and puns. 10:00 AM morning session, Planethood: Pluto, Eris, Ceres, etc., chaired by Bruce R. Mehlman. The afternoon topic will be History of Calendars, chaired by Nancy Cox.
4 February 2007 AANC Board Meeting
February 20, 2007 (Tue) Benjamin Dean Lecture Series (http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.cfm) - Dr. Andrew Westphal, University of California, Berkeley, "Stardust: First samples from the Kuiper Belt and from Interstellar Space" - 7:30 pm in Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street. Tickets are $4 at the door or by mail.
Feb. 24 Fri. 5:30 to 7:30 PM PST, Public Star Party, PLACER NATURE CENTER-The Stars for Families; See: Moon, Venus, Saturn, stars - http://www.geocities.com/donmachholz/ - Cost: $6 per person

March 2007

7 March 2007 Wednesday at 7 pm, Astronaut/Scientist Janice Voss of NASA's Ames Research Center, will give a non-technical, illustrated talk on: "Searching for Earth-like Planets: NASA's Kepler Mission" as part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures in the Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos Hills, California. Free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs $2. Call the series hot-line at 650-949-7888 for more information and driving directions. As part of the evening, she will also discuss her experiences as a scientist in space and her perspective on the space program. She will take questions from the audience at the end of the talk. The lecture is co-sponsored by: NASA Ames Research Center, The Foothill College Astronomy Program, The SETI Institute, The Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
17-18 March 2007 Messier Marathon - secondary of 24-25 March
March 19, 2007 (Mon) Benjamin Dean Lecture Series (http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.cfm) - Dr. Ray Jayawardhana University of Toronto "New Worlds in the Making: Origins of Planets and Brown Dwarfs" - 7:30 pm in Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street. Tickets are $4 at the door or by mail.
March 22, 2007, Thursday, 7:00 p.m. Impact! Piecing together the story of a giant meteorite crater beneath the Atlantic coast. By David S. Powars, Geologist, and R.D. Catchings, Geophysicist. http://online.wr.usgs.gov/calendar/ 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California 94025 USGS, Conference Room A, Bldg 3, Buried under Chesapeake Bay is a very well preserved impact structure 56 miles across and more than 2 miles deep. Following clues from drill holes and seismic imagery, careful detective work in the 1990's identified this ancient buried crater. When a meteorite 2 miles in diameter slammed into what was then ocean, it instantly blew out a crater 7 miles deep, splashed water and debris 30 miles up, and spawned tsunamis thousands of feet high. Long-mysterious glass stones ("tektites") found in the eastern U.S. and the Caribbean are now recognized as ejecta from the Chesapeake Bay impact. After 35 million years, the landscape, drainage patterns, and underground water in the Chesapeake Bay area are still affected by the impact event. (650) 329-5000 USGS Public Events Calendar (Recorded Message) For additional information on the USGS Evening Public Lecture Series please contact Amelia Barrales: abarrales2ATusgs.gov or telephone (650) 329-5136.
Mar. 24 Sat. 7:30 to 9:00 PM PDT, Public Star Party, American River Canyon Overlook; See: Moon, Venus, Saturn, stars - http://www.geocities.com/donmachholz/ - Cost: Free

April, 2007

1 April 2007 Sunday. SJAA AUCTION XXVII -- astronomical auction and swap meet at Houge Park in San Jose. A great opportunity for beginners to purchase their first telescope at a great price! Experienced observers often find equipment they need for their next observing project, from O-III filters to finders to star charts. Doors open at 11:30 am to register material for the auction. All material must be registered by 12:30 pm. Auction begin at 1 pm. Please limit yourself to about four items maximum for the auction. In order to reserve your spot in the auction, please pre-register your items so that people know what you are bringing as described below. Swap meet about 3 pm. Please email the auction team at auction@sjaa.net with a description of the item by 6 pm on Friday, March 30th - http://www.sjaa.net
11 April 2007 at 7 pm, Astronomer David Grinspoon (of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science) on: "Comparing Worlds: Climate Catastrophes in the Solar System" - Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures in the Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos Hills, California. What happened to the lost oceans of Mars and Venus? What have scientists been discovering about the thick atmosphere on Saturn's moon Titan? How has the climate changed on each of these worlds, and could what happened to them happen to our Earth? Take an entertaining and enlightening journey through the history of our solar system, discovering runaway greenhouses and snowball planets. And, most important, learn how studying the evolution of other planets can help us understand and predict climate change on Earth. Dr. David Grinspoon is the recipient of the 2006 Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public Communication, awarded by the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. Free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs $2. Info at 650-949-7888 for more information and driving directions. Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture now available in MP3 format at: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/podcast
16 April 2007 (Mon) Benjamin Dean Lecture Series (http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.cfm) - Dr. Peter Tuthill University of Sydney "From Dust to Dust: the Shrouds of Stellar Birth and Death" - 7:30 pm in Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street. Tickets are $4 at the door or by mail.
21 April 2007 Astronomy Day
Apr. 21 Sat. 4:00 to 5:00 AM PDT, Public Star Party, American River Canyon Overlook; See: Periodic Comet Machholz 1, Jupiter, Mars - http://www.geocities.com/donmachholz/ - Cost: Free; Note: This is an early morning session.
Apr. 21 Sat. 6:00 to 9:00 PM PD, Public Star Party, PLACER NATURE CENTER-How To Use Your Telescope; See: Moon, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, stars - http://www.geocities.com/donmachholz/ - Cost: $15 per person
21 Apr 2007. 8:00 pm. Mt Tam Astronomy Program (http://www.mttam.net) - Dr. Philip Duffy - Lawrence Livermore Lab, "Climate Change: Observational Evidence, the Role of Humans and Societal Impacts" - An overview of scientific evidence for global warning and for a human role in this process, followed by a discussion of possible consequences for society.
21 April 2007. 8 to 11 pm. grand reopening of its college and public observatory. Opening ceremonies 8:45 pm. Evening viewing through the new telescope; other telescopes provided by the Peninsula Astronomical Society. Recently donated 16-inch computer-automated telescope as well as high-capability solar telescope, large video monitor for showing what the telescope is observing. Campus parking permit $2.00. No pets; no bright lights near the observatory and the telescopes. Foothill College Observatory, 12345 El Monte Rd., Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
24 Apr 2007 (Tue) 1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. - NASA Ames Partnerships Office - Technology Showcase - a great opportunity for networking with both the Ames and Silicon Valley communities. Over 50 NASA Research Park partners will exhibit their technologies and discuss their collaborations with NASA. The event is free. Ames Center Director Dr. Worden will make the opening remarks, followed by Director of Partnerships Michael Marlaire who will give an overview of the NRP. Bldg. 3 NASA Ames Conference Center, Moffett Field CA 94035
Apr. 28 Sat. 7:30 to 9:30 PM PDT, Public Star Party, PLACER NATURE CENTER-The Stars for Families; See: Moon, Venus, Saturn, stars - http://www.geocities.com/donmachholz/ - Cost: $6 per person
29 Apr 2007 AANC Board Meeting - 9:30 am for AANC-CON 2007 Committee Meeting, 10:30 for regular Board meeting. CSM Planetarium http://www.collegeofsanmateo.edu/astronomy/location.html
Interested? Please come and see the new exciting location for our conference Saturday, September 29th

May, 2007

5 May 2007. NCHALADA meets in the Dellums room at the Chabot Space and Science Center. The morning session will be Perceived Threats from Space chaired by John Westfall. The afternoon session will be Dutch Astronomers chaired by Bruce R. Mehlman. More information is available on the NCHALADA web site at http://nchalada.org/
May 7, 2007 (Mon) Benjamin Dean Lecture Series (http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.cfm) - Dr. Sten Odenwald NASA Goddard Space Flight Center "The Day the Sun Blew Up" - 7:30 pm in Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street. Tickets are $4 at the door or by mail.
19 May 2007. 8:30 pm. Mt Tam Astronomy Program (http://www.mttam.net) - Dr. Scott Sandford - NASA-Ames Research Center, "Samples Returned to Earth from Comet 81P/Wild 2 by the Stardust Spacecraft" - An overview of the Stardust mission, and what has been learned from the comet sample it returned to Earth from Comet 81P/Wild 2.
19 May 2007. International Sidewalk Astronomy Night
Engage the public by taking telescopes to the sidewalk, honoring John Dobson. More info and to announce your location: http://home.earthlink.net/~sidewalkastronomynight/
23 May 2007. at 7 pm, Astronomer Dana Backman of the SETI Institute
will give a non-technical, illustrated talk on: "A Ringside Seat to the Birth of Planets"- Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures in the Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos Hills, California. Backman is a research astronomer (specializing in infrared observations) and a widely praised teacher of astronomy. He is the manager of education and outreach for the SOFIA Project. Astronomers have discovered dusty "doughnuts" of cosmic raw material around many younger stars. In some cases, astronomers can see tantalizing hints in the rings that planets may be forming or may already have formed from this material. Dr. Backman will explain how new kinds of telescopes and observations are thus making it possible for us to detect the birth process of planets around nearby stars. He'll discuss how some of these structures remind us of the asteroid belt in our own solar system and the rings of icy chunks beyond Neptune that we call the Kuiper Belt. Dr. Backman will conclude by previewing future observations of these intriguing dusty rings with new telescopes, particularly the SOFIA Project in which NASA has outfitted a 747 plane with a special telescope that can observe heat-rays from distant objects. Free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs $2. Info at 650-949-7888 for more information and driving directions. Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture now available in MP3 format at: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/podcast
24 May 2007, Thur. 7:30 pm. "Pluto, Eris, and the Dwarf Planets of the Solar System," talk by planet hunter Michael Brown about his discoveries at the outer edge of the solar system. Free lecture at UC Santa Cruz, part of the Halliday Lecture Series presented by UCSC's Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and UC Observatories/Lick Observatory. Brown, a professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology, has been scanning the skies for planets beyond Pluto for the past seven years. In 2005 his team discovered Eris, the largest object found in the solar system in the past 150 years and the first new candidate for planethood to be discovered since Pluto. This discovery drove home the need to answer a question that astronomers had been unwilling to settle definitively for years, and that Brown will address: What is a planet? For more information about the lecture, contact the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at (831) 459-3581.
25-28 May 2007 RTMC

June, 2007

3 Jun 2007 AANC Board Meeting
June 4, 2007 (Mon) Benjamin Dean Lecture Series (http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.cfm) - Dr. Paul Davies Arizona State Universe "Cosmic Jackpot: Why Our Universe is Just Right for Life" - 7:30 pm in Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street. Tickets are $4 at the door or by mail.
June 9 Sat. 9:00 to 10:30 PM PDT, Public Star Party, Big Bend; See: Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, stars - http://www.geocities.com/donmachholz/ - Cost: Free
23 June 2007. 8:30 pm. Mt Tam Astronomy Program (http://www.mttam.net) - Prof. Alex Filippenko - UC Berkeley, "The Birth of the Universe"- There is evidence in favor of a "big bang" origin for the cosmos - a hot, dense beginning with an inflationary expansion. More recent theories, however, also suggest that our universe may be only one of many.
June 23 Sat. 9:00 to 10:30 PM PDT, Public Star Party, Sugar Pine Res. Boat Parking Lot; See: Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, stars - http://www.geocities.com/donmachholz/ - Cost: Free

July, 2007

July 7 Sat. 9:00 to 10:30 PM PDT, Public Star Party, Big Bend; See: Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, stars - http://www.geocities.com/donmachholz/ - Cost: Free
11-16 July 2007 SSP
15-20 July Practical Observational Astronomy from the Sierra Nevada (1) - http://www.sfsu.edu/~sierra/astrcl.htm - San Francisco State University Sierra Nevada Field Campus - http://www.sfsu.edu/~sierra/
21 July 2007. 8:30 pm. Mt Tam Astronomy Program (http://www.mttam.net) - Dr. Janice Voss - NASA-Ames Research Center, "Life as an Astronaut: Highlights of STS-99" - Shuttle Mission STS-99 launched on Feb 11, 2000 was Dr. Voss' fifth space flight. Dr. Voss will describe the mission and other aspects of life as an astronaut.
29 Jul 2007 AANC Board Meeting

August, 2007

Aug. 4 Sat. 7:30 to 9:30 PM PDT, Public Star Party, PLACER NATURE CENTER-The Stars for Families; See: Jupiter, stars - http://www.geocities.com/donmachholz/ - Cost: $6 per person
Aug. 11 Sat. 8:30 to 10:00 PM PDT, Public Star Party, Big Bend; See: Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, stars - http://www.geocities.com/donmachholz/ - Cost: Free
August 11, 2007 - 20th annual FPOA Star-B-Que and Annual Meeting. Picnic 5:00 PM, and raffle, astronomy trivia quiz, and Astronomical-Gastronomical contest
after. Guest speaker, Dr. Raja Thakurta, UCO/Lick Obs, "Journey Back to the Big Bang". PLEASE RSVP to (831) 623-2465 or e-mail info@fpoa.net. As a special treat this year, we've arranged for the Perseid meteor shower to peak later that night, with no interference from the moon. Flier: http://fpoa.net/Star-B-Q%202007.pdf Website: http://fpoa.net/
18 Aug 2007. 8:30 pm. Mt Tam Astronomy Program (http://www.mttam.net) - Dr. Joseph F. Hennawi - UC Berkeley, "Weighing the Dark Matter in the Universe with Gravitational Lensing" - A description of the mysterious problem of Dark Matter in the Universe which has confounded astronomers and physicists for nearly half a century, and recent progress on understanding it based on one of the predictions of Einstein's theory of general relativity.
24-27 August 2007 Solar Eclipse conference at Griffith Observatory (LA)

September, 2007

Sept. 8 Sat. 8:00 to 9:30 PM PDT, Public Star Party, Big Bend; See: Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Milky Way, stars - http://www.geocities.com/donmachholz/ - Cost: Free
15 Sep 2007. 8:00 pm. Mt Tam Astronomy Program (http://www.mttam.net) - John Dillon - Randall Museum, "When Astronomy Became a Science" - An examination of the amazingly sophisticated astronomy that flowered more than 2000 years ago at the legendary Museum of Alexandria.
September 17, 2007 Benjamin Dean Lecture Series - "A Brief Tour of the Universe" Ryan Wyatt, Director of Morrison Planetarium and Science Visualization, California Academy of Sciences. Modern planetariums have transformed into digital domes projecting three-dimensional astronomical datasets, transporting audiences from our solar system out to the edge of the observable universe. Get a glimpse of the new Morrison Planetarium's capabilities by taking a guided tour through charted space—an experience that will redefine your sense of "home." Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street (at Presidio Avenue). Tickets are $4 in advance by mail or online at http://www.calacademy.org/lectures/tickets/ or at the door. Please e-mail any questions to deanseries&# or call 415-321-8000. http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.php
23 Sep 2007 AANC Board Meeting
28 September 2007 AANC Conference, Reach for the Stars, at College of San Mateo.

October, 2007

Oct 3, 2007 (Wed) 7 pm, Astronomer David Morrison of NASA's Ames
Research Center, "Taking a Hit: Asteroid Impacts and Evolution" Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures, Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, Los Altos Hills, California. Parking on campus costs $2. Info 650-949-7888. Past Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures now available in MP3 format at: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/podcast/index.html
11-13 Oct - SJAA is hosting CalStar again at Lake San Antonio in
Monterey Co. Information http://sjaa.net/calstar
13 Oct 2007. 7:30 pm. Mt Tam Astronomy Program (http://www.mttam.net) - Dr. Steve Stahler - UC Berkeley, "How Stars Are Made" - Stars are the natural out come of processes that occur through out galaxies. Research has led to a good understanding of the basic evolutionary process, but deep mysteries still remain.
Monday, 29 October 7:30 pm “Black Holes: Space Warps, Time Machines, and the Excruciating Deaths of Stars” Andrew Fraknoi, Foothill College & the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (author of the just-published children's book "Disney Wonderful World of Space"). California Academy of Sciences' Morrison Planetarium Benjamin Dean Lecture Series in Astronomy. What is the science behind the science fiction of black holes? What are black holes, how do astronomers find them, and why would falling into one be a once-in-a-lifetime experience? Analogies, slides, thought experiments, and humor will show how black holes warp space, act like a real time machine, and grow to be enormous at the centers of most galaxies. Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street (at Presidio Avenue). Tickets are $4 in advance by mail or online at http://www.calacademy.org/lectures/tickets/ or at the door. Please e-mail any questions to deanseries&# or call 415-321-8000. http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.php

November, 2007

13 Nov 2007, Tuesday at 7 pm, Astronomer Jeff Moore of NASA's Ames Research Center - talk on: New Horizons at Jupiter (and Some Saturn News) as part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures in the Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos Hills, California. Free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs $2. Call the series hot-line at 650-949-7888 for more information and driving directions. In February, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft swung by the giant planet Jupiter on its way to Pluto. Its instruments recorded images and other data about Jupiter's wild weather (including observations of an infant storm 2/3 the size of Earth), its ring, and its giant moons. Dr. Moore will show the wonderful new photos of the Jupiter system and discuss some of the discoveries made by New Horizons. He will also talk about one of the most exciting discoveries of the Cassini mission around Saturn -- the new understanding and exploration of water geysers on the moon Enceladus. Jeff Moore is Research Scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center, specializing in the evolution of the surfaces of planets and icy moons (including Mars and the moons of Jupiter.) He is the leader of the Imaging Node for the New Horizons mission. Past Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures are now available in MP3 format at: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/podcast/
17 Nov 2007 LCROSS Family Night. Return to the Moon. NASA Ames Research Center. 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m Ames Exploration Center, Building 943 Eagle Room, Ames Conference Center, Parade Ground as observation area for telescopes. Presentations at 4:30 p.m, 5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Lunar observation 5:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. NASA Shuttle Busses running throughout the event providing transpiration between parking lots and venues inside NASA. Presenters: Tony Colaprete (LCROSS Mission Principal Investigator, NASA Ames), Jennifer Heldmann (LCROSS Mission Observation Campaign Lead, NASA Ames), Stuart Moses (Director of Space Science and Exploration Systems, Northrop Grumman).
26 November, Monday -“Meteorites and the Asteroids They Came From: Are Asteroids Fluffy?”Dr. Guy Consolmagno, S.J., Vatican Observatory (Curator of the Vatican meteorite collection, one of the world's largest), California Academy of Sciences' Morrison Planetarium Benjamin Dean Lecture Series in Astronomy. Spaceprobe, radar and telescopic measurements have led to reliable determination of asteroid densities. When compared to the densities of the meteorites, a new understanding is emerging of how asteroids are put together -- with implications both for the origin of planets and for future human encounters with Near Earth Objects. Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street (at Presidio Avenue). Tickets are $4 in advance by mail or online at http://www.calacademy.org/lectures/tickets/ or at the door. Please e-mail any questions to deanseries@calacademy.org or call 415-321-8000. http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.php

December, 2007

2 Dec 2007 AANC Board Meeting
Dec. 15 Sat. 5:00 to 7:00 PM PST, Public Star Party, PLACER NATURE CENTER-The Stars for Families; See: Moon, Mars, stars - http://www.geocities.com/donmachholz/ - Cost: $6 per person
Tuesday, 18 December "The Orion Nebula: Where Stars are Born”. Dr. Robert O'Dell, Vanderbilt University. Dr. Guy Consolmagno, S.J., Vatican Observatory (Curator of the Vatican meteorite collection, one of the world's largest), California Academy of Sciences' Morrison Planetarium Benjamin Dean Lecture Series in Astronomy. The famous Orion Nebula is only the most visible part of the process of star formation that occurs in this region. Recent observations with the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based infrared telescopes have revealed that star formation there has extended to within the last 100,000 years, relatively recent compared with the age of the universe. This talk will feature Hubble images made by the speaker and a simulated flying tour through the nebula. Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street (at Presidio Avenue). Tickets are $4 in advance by mail or online at http://www.calacademy.org/lectures/tickets/ or at the door. Please e-mail any questions to deanseries&# or call 415-321-8000. http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.php
Dec. 21 Fri. 6:00 to 7:30 PM PST, Public Star Party, Auburn Dam Overlook; See: Moon, Mars, stars - http://www.geocities.com/donmachholz/ - Cost: Free