TAA2





Our Meetings Our meetings are on the first Friday of each month. The University of Toledo is gracious enough to allow us the use of one of their lecture rooms in McMaster Hall. The meetings start at 7:30 pm and last 1.5 to 2 hours. We usually have a talk presented by one of the UT astronomy professors or by a member or guest speaker.

	Some of Our Past Meeting Topics November Meeting Dr. Karen Bjorkman had recently returned from a trip to St. Petersburg, Russia where she did research work with Russian astronomers. She related her experiences to us at our meeting on November 2. April Meeting Dr. Nancy Morrison presented a talk entitled Ultraviolet Astronomy. This was very interesting. A lot of things are being discovered about our universe by studying it at wavelengths outside the visible spectrum. May Meeting We had an interesting meeting with Dr. Jon Bjorkman talking to us about gravitational lensing. This is the process where the intense gravity of distant galaxies and clusters of galaxies bends the light from farther galaxies in a way that allows us to see multiple images of it. A single star can also distort the light from a more distant object and even make it appear brighter in some cases. This is called "microlensing" June Meeting Dr. Anderson presented a very informative talk entitled Color in Space. He discussed the physics of color perception in a thorough but non-mathematical way that we could understand and appreciate. Dr. Anderson used a web site to provide the visual presentation. The URL is http://www.physics.utoledo.edu/~lsa/_a1010/_color/spacecolors.htm July Meeting Our speaker for last meeting was Dr. Adolf Witt. The topic involved the Local Bubble. This is an area of space around our local star group that is more devoid of interstellar matter than normal space. It was formed by a series of supernovae occurring millions of years ago. Performing a web search for "local bubble" will return a wealth of information on the subject. Information on the SPiDR mission to launch in 2005 to search for dark matter and examine the local bubble can be obtained at http://www.bu.edu/spidr/indextoo.html August Meeting Some of the observations reported were of M19, M51, M81, M4, M57 and sunspots. A discussion of solar activity, solar wind and the earth's geomagnetic field followed from the mention of heightened sunspot occurrences. We discussed having a Chilly Chili this fall. Our preferred location is Oak Openings Springbrook camp area. There is a large field where we should be able to get a good clear view of the sky. This will have to be coordinated with Metroparks people and possibly dovetail with one of their observing sessions. Planning is underway. Dr. Federman arrived to give his talk on the origin of the light elements (Lithium, Beryllium and Boron). It has been determined that they cannot form in the stars by fusion like most other elements (up to iron). There are two or three known processes that may generate them. One of the most promising is spallation reactions which occur when cosmic rays break apart nuclei of larger elements like carbon that are present in interstellar space. Neutrinos also produce this effect in supernovae. The source of an element can be determined by detecting the specific isotopes. This is done by spectral analysis of dust clouds in interstellar space. Dr. Federman also mentioned an interesting book on the subject titled "The Magic Furnace" by Marcus Chown. I didn't find it at the Lucas County Library but it is available at Amazon.com. I came across the following space.com article which includes quotes by Dr. Federman. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/light_elements_000608.html September Meeting Dr. James presented an interesting and enjoyable talk about Mars, past, present and it's appearance in literature. He explained the various spacecraft we have sent there and how they are helping us understand the Martian atmosphere, surface terrain and composition as well as what might lie beneath the surface.

		Upcoming Meetings October Meeting The meeting will be at 7:30pm in McMaster Hall on Friday October 4, 2002. The topic will be "Long Term Solar Variability and the Solar Cycle in the 21st Century", presented by Boncho Bonev, graduate student at the University of Toledo.

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