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Marvin Vann was the founder of SAS in 1985. He donated his dome and all of his astronomy equipment to La Posada. SAS uses this facility at some of our monthly meetings. Veronica Vann lives in the La Posada Garden Apartments nearby.
Sonora Astronomical Society (SAS) exists to educate the public about our awesome dark skies in Green Valley, Arizona. We live in a city that not only has dark skies, but skies relatively clear of rain and clouds for most of the year. This is evident by the many observatories that have chosen Arizona for their observing sites. We live in an astronomer's paradise!
You are welcome to attend our astronomy meetings. We meet on the 2nd Tuesday of the month from September through May at the La Posada Recreation Center on La Posada Circle. Our meeting usually begins at 7:00pm unless we are having a potluck or catered dinner before the meeting for which we begin our meetings at 5:00pm. We have great, highly qualified speakers from our group and from the surrounding observatories and universities.
The members of our society range from beginners to experts. Many of our members have at least one or more telescopes. You do not have to own a telescope to become a member of our society. SAS is your tool to discover how to start enjoying astronomy and how to observe objects in our dark skies. We can help you decide the exact type of telescope to purchase.
Next SAS Meeting
Tuesday, May 8th, 2012
7:00pm
Intro and Welcome
7:10pm
Convene for business meeting
7:30pm
Featured Speaker
Speaker:
Dr. Alan Binder, Founder and President of the Lunar Research Institute
Title:
A 17th Century Non-Achromataic Long-Focal Refractor - or What You Can Do
With a Small Telescope
Abstract:
Dr. Binder will be discussing a replica of a 17th century telescope he constructed
to determine how well- or how poorly - these early, primitive telescopes performed.
To his surprise, the telescope was as good as a 2 to 2.5 inch modern, achromatic
refractor. In addition to the Moon and planets, he has observed 176 double stars,
90 open clusters, 18 diffuse nebulae, 14 planetary nebulae, 65 globular clusters and
71 galaxies with this telescope. This demonstrated that the 17th century astronomers
could have made even greater strides in astronomy than they did had they realized the
potential of their telescopes. Further, this program shows beginning amateur astronomers
what they can accomplish with a modest, inexpensive telescope.
Biography:
Dr. Alan Binder is a Lunar and Planetary Scientist, a Spacecraft Systems and Design
Engineer and a Mission Director with over 40 years of experience working in the NASA
and European Space Programs. He was a Principal Investigator on the 1976 Viking Mars
Lander Missions that made the first successful unmanned landings on Mars. Later he was
the Principal Investigator, Manager and Mission Director of all phases of NASA’s
Lunar Prospector Mission during its 19-month orbital mapping of the Moon. Dr. Binder
formed the Lunar Research Institute (LRI) in Arizona to carry on with the flight and
scientific phases of the Lunar Prospector Mission. Dr. Binder has a BS in Physics and
Mathematics from Northern Illinois University and a Ph.D. in Geology and Planetary
Science from the University of Arizona. He taught and did lunar research for 10 years
in Germany at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, the University
of Kiel and the University of Muenster (he speaks German fluently and some Spanish).
Dr. Binder is a Member of the Board of Space Education Initiatives, Inc. and has authored
and co-authored over 80 scientific papers in the open literature. He is also the author of
Lunar Prospector: Against All Odds, the complete history of the Lunar Prospector Program,
and Moonquake, a realistic science fiction story about the first Lunar Base.
8:40pm
SAS Business Topics and Door Prize Drawing
9:00pm
SAS Meeting Adjourned