[The background above is part of an image by the Hubble Space Telescope of the Crescent Nebula.]

Volunteers Needed! In lieu of our regular July meeting, the Explorit Astronomy Club will host a planisphere making workstation, on Saturday. If you can help me with this simple, popular children’s activity, please contact me.

When: Friday, July 19, 2002, 5pm - 10pm

Saturday, July 20, 9am - midnight

Where: Veterans' Memorial Center, 203 E. 14th Street, Davis, California

The Davis Star Show, a festival of astronomy and related sciences, is a public celebration of our universe. We will have speakers talking about exciting new discoveries in astronomy, a trade show featuring instruments and accessories appealing to a wide range of amateurs, an exhibit hall with displays and activities for all ages, daytime viewing of sunspots, flares, and other solar activity, a planetarium for the kids, astronomy club booths and demonstrations, public teacher/education literature table, workshops, and a public star party at night on the 25th.

While the sun is in the sky, there will be solar telescopes set up outside the Exhibit Hall where visitors can safely see sunspots, flares and prominences.

5:00pm Davis Star Show opens to the public

Trade show and exhibit hall (Exhibit Hall)

Solar viewing outside Veterans' Memorial Center (VMC) entrance

7:30pm Welcome and Introductions (VMC Theatre)

8:00pm Andreas Albrecht, UC Davis "What Do We Know About the Universe?"

10:00pm Davis Star Show closes for the night

9:00am Davis Star Show opens to the public

Trade show and exhibit hall (Exhibit Hall)

Club exhibits (Exhibit Hall and outside VMC entrance)

A Walk Through the Solar System (Community Park paths)

Solar viewing (outside VMC entrance)

Activities tables (Courtyard)

Food booths open (outside Theatre entrance)

10:00 am Planetarium shows begin (Game Room, 10am to 6pm)

Tracy Caldwell, NASA Astronaut - Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (Theatre)

11:00am Steven Stahler, UC Berkeley (Theatre) "How Stars Are Made"

Demonstration: Planetary Movement through Our Solar System (The Meadow)

Talib Huff, Discovery Museum-Challenger Learning Center will present a

demonstration on how planets move through the sky. Join in the fun to see the

movement of the recent planetary alignment from outside the Solar System

and gain an understanding of where to find the planets in the night sky, how

they move, and why they align so rarely.

12noon "Tour of the Universe" (Club Room); video lecture hosted by Kris Koenig, Star Safaris

1pm Robert Naeye, editor, ASP Mercury Magazine (Theatre); "Solving the Universe's Mysteries Through Extra Dimensions"

Collimation Workshop by Shneor Sherman (Club Room). The workshop will provide instruction in the use of various tools for colimating a newtonian reflector. Workshop limited to 15 people

Planetary Movement Demonstration (The Meadow); Talib Huff of the Discovery Museum-Challenger Learning Center, demonstrates how planets move across the sky, and explains why we see they where we do and why they align so rarely.

1-5pm Telescope Making Workshop. Members of the ATM group from the Chabot Space and Science

Center will bring projects in progress so that Davis Star Show visitors may observe the various stages of telescope mirror grinding, polishing, figuring, and testing. (Green Room)

2pm Tony Hallas, Hallas Digital Services (Theatre) "Astrophotography from the Foothills of the Sierra"

Stephen James O'Meara, contributing editor, Sky & Telescope (Club Room) "Volcano Moon: Does the Moon's Gravity Affect Volcanic Eruptions?"

3pm Kent Cullers, SETI Institute (Theatre); "SETI and Astronomy from DC to Daylight"

3:15pm "The Return of Galileo" (Club Room); Children's lecture by Vic Maris, Stellarvue

4pm Phil Plait, Sonoma State University and BadAstronomy.com (Theatre); "Bad Astronomy: The

Moon Hoax"

Planetary Movement Demonstration (The Meadow) Talib Huff of the Discovery Museum-Challenger Learning Center, demonstrates how planets move across the sky, and explains why we see they where we do and why they align so rarely.

4-5:30pm Workshop: Introduction to Variable Star Astronomy (Club Room) ; Chuck Pullen, The

American Association of Variable Star Observers. Attend this workshop and learn how much fun variable star observations can be and how you can make your observations count in towards astronomical research.

5pm Stephen James O'Meara, contributing editor, Sky & Telescope (Theatre); "The Trials and

Tribulations of a 19th Century Astronomer Living in the 21st Century"

7:00pm Star party set-up begins

8pm Exhibit hall and Trade show close

8:30pm "Astronomy for Everyone" by Douglas Wolfe (the Meadow); Talk and slide show for everyone

who wants to learn about astronomy

8pm-12m Public star party (near soccer fields behind VMC); we will have as many as 80 to 100

telescopes set up on the fields so that all visitors get the chance to see the many different wonders of the night sky. In addition to the 2nd quarter moon, you might see double stars, open and globular star clusters, bright nebulae, remnants of exploded stars, and distant galaxies. There will be people operating each of the telescopes to help you understand what you are viewing.

The Exhibit Hall will have displays by commercial vendors such as TeleVue, Lumicon, StellarVue, Sky Publishing, Star Safaris, Hallas Digital Systems, Earth and Sky, and Everything in the Universe. Interspersed will be wares, displays, and activities presented by our non-profit participants such as the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Explorit Science Center, the International Dark Sky Association, the Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society, and many others, as well as by our other sponsors.

Activities especially for younger guests continuing throughout Saturday include a astronomy construction table presented by the Davis High School Astronomy Club, a telescope making workstation where Melanie Smith of the SVAS will show our younger guests how to make their very own refractor, and Steve Howe's Planet Facts Workstation will tell you how old you are on Neptune, how far you can jump on Jupiter and how tall you would be on Mars. The Explorit Astronomy Club will host a planisphere making workstation, and we'll have regularly scheduled planetarium shows throughout the day on Saturday in the Game Room opposite the entrance to the trade show. In addition, Talib Huff of the Discovery Museum - Challenger Learning Center will conduct a demonstration on the movement of the planets which will explain why the planets never appear around the north star and why they align so seldom. Of course, not-to-missed is Galileo himself, actually Stellarvue's Vic Maris in costume, giving his "Return of Galileo" talk. It promises to be educational, exciting and lots of fun.

* * *

To Receive These Bulletins via E-mail Contact Dennis Smith at: d2smith@pacbell.net

The Astronomy Club is hosted by Dennis Smith with the assistance of Tim Feldman and other eager astronomy buffs. The club is for everyone - adults, children, knowledgeable or ignorant. Come to listen, look and learn, or to share your expertise or experience.