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

WHERE: AT EXPLORIT Science Center, 3141 5th Street, Davis.

AMAZING MOONS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM!

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21 AT 8 P.M.

AT EXPLORIT

Come to our next Davis Astronomy Club meeting on the AMAZING MOONS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM! At 8:00 p.m. Saturday, September 21 at EXPLORIT. We'll see an entertaining and informative video produced by the Discovery Channel, entitled: 95 WORLDS AND COUNTING. It uses an impressive combination of computer-generated graphics and interviews with planetary astronomers to take us "where the real action is... the moons!"

Once dismissed as insignificant ice balls, we now know they are anything but boring! Imagine the most explosive world in the solar system, producing more heat than anything but the sun. That's Jupiter's fireball of a moon Io, which is exploding before our eyes. Try to picture a geyser blasting 5 miles high in the furthest reaches of the solar system, a geyser not of steam but of liquid ice. That's Neptune's moon Triton, a world so piercingly cold that everything familiar to us on earth, including the air, is frozen solid. And then there is Europa. Europa is a moon that may harbor the only other liquid water ocean in the solar system, an ocean that may even harbor life. Take a romp through some of the solar system's most exotic real estate.

There are moons out there with atmospheres so thick, you can strap on wings and fly. There are moons so small that you wouldn't stand on them, you'd hover! Moons where you'd weigh no more than a mouse, where you can throw a ball around the entire body, and where a good jump sends you a mile and a half into the air. Imagine spelunking on a world called Phobos, scuba diving on Europa, or bungee jumping off one the solar system's largest cliffs. Spend some time exploring the moons, and you'll never ignore them again! Please join us for this entertaining and informative presentation!

Weather permitting; we'll adjourn to the out-of-doors for a view of the late September night sky. If you can, bring your telescope to share!

Note:The descripton of this video (#632315) with more information is at Discovery Inc., site: http://www.discovery.com/

OCTOBER PERSEID METEOR SHOWER PARTY: another big success. Thanks to Explorit's Tom Wickersham, and members Tim Feldman, Joseph Roeper, and approximately 200 friendly folks who came to Fairfield Elementary School, our August 12 Meteor Shower party was a big success. We had live coverage of the event on KOVR Channel 3 , and once the sky got dark, we observed an "average" number of meteors for our location: approximately 1 bright meteor every 15 minutes or so. The seeing was degraded by dust and smoke, but that didn't appear to disappoint the attendees. Thank you Tom, Tim and Joseph and other volunteers who made this evening a success! I also want to thank the attendees for keeping the grounds tidy and free of trash. The Club is grateful to the Davis Joint Unified School District for allowing us to use the playground at Fairfield for our annual event under the stars.

HELP SAVE OUR CLUB (part 2).

I Am Happy To Report That We've Had Some Interest From A Couple Of Members In Helping The Club Continue! But I'd Like To Encourage You To Volunteer so the duties are not borne by just one or two nice folks! So here's our appeal, again. Please consider helping the Club. Thank you!

Dennis is stepping down as "Host" of the Explorit Science Center's Astronomy Club. So, for the Club to continue (and we DO want that don't we?), a volunteer (or more) will be needed to keep things going! This is an opportunity for anyone with an interest in astronomy and at most a few hours per month to make a real difference in the community's appreciation of astronomy. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet some really nice people, and you certainly don't need to be an "expert" in astronomy. You can get a general idea of what the club is all about by viewing the internet site at:: http://www.explorit.org/astronomy.html#club Your role can be very flexible, and you can get more information by contacting Dennis at d2smith@pacbell.net or (530) 756-7006 or Explorit's Tom Wickersham at tomgwick@explorit.org or (530) 756-0191. Please help keep the Astronomy Club an important part of Explorit and our region!

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.