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

I regret that because of scheduling problems, the club's June meeting has been cancelled. Perhaps we can have a 'make up' meeting in July?

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May Meeting.

Eight members included our May 25 Meeting in their Memorial Day Weekend. We explored the space art of 'the most influential space artist of all time,' Chesley Bonestell. Our resource guide was space artist and scientist Ron Miller and Frederick C. Durant II's book: The Art of Chesley Bonestell (published by Collins & Brown Limited, 2001).

Bonestell's imagination and respect for scientific accuracy was responsible for sparking astronomical careers of hundreds of young men and women in the 1940s and later. Carl Sagan, perhaps the most famous popularizer of astronomy, said he really didn‚t know how to visualize other worlds until he saw Bonestell's paintings of the Solar System in such books as The Conquest of Space in 1949. The director of the Adler Planetarium, Joseph Chamberlain, claimed that without Bonestell's art work, the NASA era might have been delayed for many years or it might never have happened at all. 

After the slide show, Tim Feldman graciously offered to show off a beautiful night sky to the visitors. They were treated to views through Tim's 8 inch telescope. Thank you, Tim, for coming to the rescue!

A partial eclipse of the sun will be visible from our area on Monday, June 10. The first contact will occur at 5:07 p.m. when the sun is 37 degrees above the horizon. Maximum eclipse (69%) will occur at 6:16 p.m., when the sun is 24 degrees above the horizon. Approximately 60 percent of the sun's disk will be covered by the Moon at this time. The eclipse will end at 7:17 p.m. when the sun is 12 degrees above the horizon. Avoid injury to your eyes. Do not view the sun directly; use a home-made pin hole camera or project the sun's image onto a surface for viewing.

On safe solar viewing see http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/sun/article_94_1.asp

Good luck and be safe!

GET READY for THE 2002 DAVIS STAR SHOW!

When: Friday, July 19, 5pm 10pm

Saturday, July 20th, 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 and other solar activity, a planetarium for the kids, astronomy club booths and demonstrations, a teacher/educational literature table, workshops, a lunar observing party at night on the 19th and a public star party at night on the 20th. The festival is free to all who wish to attend.

GUEST SPEAKERS:

· Andreas Albrecht, University of California, Davis : "What do we know about the Universe?"

· Steven Stahler, UC Berkeley, Radio Astronomy Group: "How Stars are Made"

· Phil Plait, Sonoma State University & BadAstronomy.com "Bad Astronomy: The Moon Hoax"

· Stephen James O'Meara, contributing editor, Sky & Telescope Magazine: "The Trials and Tribulations of a 19thCentury Astronomer living in the 21stCentury."

· Tony Hallas, Hallas Digital Systems "Astrophotography from the Foothills of the Sierra"

· Robert Naeye, editor, ASP Mercury Magazine "Solving the Universe's Mysteries Through Extra Dimensions"

· Kent Cullers, SETI Institute "SETI and Astronomy from DC to Daylight"

and others.

TRADE SHOW/EXHIBIT HALL

The exhibit hall will have displays by commercial vendors such as TeleVue, Lumicon, Stellarvue, Sky Publishing, Star Safaris and Hallas Digital Systems. Wares, displays and activities will be presented by our nonprofit 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. There will be an educational literature table with handouts suitable for classroom instruction provided by the NASAGoddard Space Flight Center, NASAAmes and the Center for Science EducationSpace Sciences LaboratoryUC Berkeley.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Other activities especially for our younger guests continuing throughout Saturday include a model workstation presented by the Davis High School Astronomy Club, a telescope making workshop by Melanie Smith with the SVAS, a Solar System Measurement Workstation by Steve Howe of the Elk Grove School District GATE Program and a planisphere making table run by the Explorit Astronomy Club. We will have regularly scheduled planetarium shows presented throughout the day on Saturday by S.C.O.P.E. There will also be several children‚s lectures throughout the day. On Saturday, a rocketry demonstration will take place on the fields behind the Vets. Food booths will be available on Saturday for those who wish to have lunch and/or dinner at the event.

FOR THE AMATEUR ASTRONOMER:

For the telescope owners wishing to know more about adjusting their own instruments, Shneor Sherman will conduct a reflector collimation workshop. Members of the Chabot Space and Science Center will conduct a telescope making demonstration Saturday afternoon, and Chuck Pullen of the AAVSO will conduct a workshop in variable star observing. Tony Hallas's talk on astrophotography Saturday was also scheduled with the experienced amateur in mind, although his slide show of images will be enjoyed by one and all.

OBSERVING:

While the sun is in the sky, visitors can safely observe sunspots, flares and prominences from solar telescopes set up outside the exhibit hall. Solar telescopes will be outside the exhibit hall. A lunar star party will be held on Friday night to enjoy the moon, which will be in 2nd quarter during the event. At the public star party Saturday night we will have as many as 80100 telescopes set up on the field so that all visitors get the chance to see the many different wonders of the night sky. In addition to the 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 looking at.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:

If you own a telescope and would like to volunteer to help out with the public star party Saturday night, please contact Jane Smith at mailto:jesmith@ucdavis.edu or telephone (530)7584104 evenings/weekends.

Those who would like to volunteer to help with any aspect of the show itself, even if only for a couple hours, should contact Larry Snyder at mailto:ldsnyder@dcn.davis.ca.us.

THE DAVIS STAR SHOW ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:

The Davis Star Snow is a collaboration by several organizations, including the Davis Conference and Visitors Bureau, Explorit Science Center, Sacramento Sidewalk Astronomers, The Astronomy ConnectionSacramento(TACSAC), the Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society(SVAS), UC Davis Astronomy Club, Davis High School Astronomy Club, the Astronomical Association of Northern California(AANC), Stellarvue, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific(ASP), with the cooperation of the Davis Parks and Community Services Department.

MAJOR SPONSORS:

The major sponsors of the Davis Star Show include Sky & Telescope Magazine, Agilent Technologies, the Teichert Foundation, Wells Fargo, Intel, and GenCorp (AeroJet

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.