President’s November Updates

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Hello, fellow DAS members. The President’s corner is back and there’s a lot to catch up on.

First, a big thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the recent Member Survey. We on the executive board are excited to receive your input, and are weighing how to best answer your questions and address the issues that were raised.… Continue reading.

Astro Update – November 2021

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Mars Floods – The Mars rover Perseverance has been studying the western delta fan, which was built up by layers of sediment dropped into Jezero Crater by a river, back when the crater was a lake, about 3.7 billion years ago.… Continue reading.

“It was just me and the infinite” – Jennifer Jones

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Jennifer Jones makes her living teaching astronomy, something few Denver Astronomical Society members can say. As the Astronomy Program Chair at Arapahoe Community College (ACC), she spends her days exploring the mysteries of the cosmos with her students. It’s the culmination of a lifelong love of science and discovery.… Continue reading.

Galaxies, just for the sake of argument

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A few weeks ago, I received a message from Cameron Gillis, an amateur astronomer who wrote that he liked galaxies. Just for fun, I decided to take the opposite approach, a philosophical reversal. If he likes galaxies, then I hate them.… Continue reading.

Astro Update – October

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After its first, unsuccessful attempt to store a drilled sample of Martian rock and soil, the Mars rover Perseverance made two successful samplings of a flat Martian rock nicknamed “Rochette.” Both are now sealed in titanium tubes for a future mission to collect and return to Earth. Continue reading.

Skyward – October

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One clear evening during the summer of 2019, I was using Pegasus, one of my childhood friend Carl’s telescopes, at our annual Adirondack Astronomy Retreat.  When my cellphone began to ring, I picked it up with some surprise.  At the other end of the line was Carolyn Shoemaker. Continue reading.

Astro Update – September

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Carolyn Shoemaker, discoverer of dozens of comets and hundreds of asteroids, has died at age 92. Many of her discoveries were shared with her husband Gene Shoemaker, who for many years headed a project to search for near-Earth objects using the small Palomar Schmidt camera. Continue reading.

Skyward – September

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During the last almost two years I have been busier than ever, meeting many new people, giving lectures, quoting poetry, and advocating observing the night sky. And Wendee and I have barely left home. Continue reading.

Astro Update – August

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The Hubble Space Telescope shut down all observations on June 13 because of a failure in its payload computer, which controls all its onboard instruments. On the ground, operators switched the telescope to use the backup payload computer, but that didn’t fix the issue. Continue reading.

Skyward – August

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“How would you like to go to prison?” was one of the first things that Frank Lopez asked me. My stunned expression prompted Frank to clarify: “The Federal prison off Wilmot Road has an astronomy club.” That was enough... Continue reading.
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