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“Women in Astronomy” at November 9 meeting

James Guilford , , , , ,
Suzie Dills

The monthly membership meeting of the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association (CAA) will take place Monday, November 9, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Because our regular meeting place is closed in accordance with COVID-19 restrictions, meetings of the CAA are taking place via the popular Zoom service.

Suzie Dills, longtime CAA member and director of the Hoover-Price Planetarium in Canton, Ohio, will give a talk entitled “Women in Astronomy.” Dills will tell us stories of female astronomers’ inspirations, science, and contributions which have been and often are unheralded.

Here is how to attend the meeting via Zoom when “doors open” at 7:20 p.m.

Either “Phone in” or watch and participate via “Zoom Video”.

Phone In: Just dial: 1-312-626-6799 (Chicago number)

You will be required to enter our Meeting Number: 987 496 1637

Or….

Zoom Video with video and audio, on your web browser. (No camera required)

https://csuohio.zoom.us/j/9874961637 (No password to enter)

If you are tech-savvy, go to Zoom.com, you can download and install their app on your phone, tablet, or computer, then join our meeting using the Meeting Number given above.

Meeting Agenda

7:20 Meeting will be opened to everyone. (Socializing is welcomed!)

7:30 Opening Announcement will be made (All will be muted)

Introduction of President for commentary

Vice President will introduce our speaker for the evening

Speaker will ‘take the floor’. (No questions during the presentation)

Question & Answer session (Please be patient, it does take time to manipulate)

8:20 (ish) President calls the CAA Business Meeting to Order (All Muted)

At conclusion of the meeting, everyone is welcome to stay to socialize.

November 11 Membership Meeting: “Catching the Sun…”

James Guilford , , , ,

In its prime, the McMath-Hulbert Observatory shone in the sun, circa 1941. Credit: University of Michigan and McMath-Hulbert Observatory

The final Membership Meeting of the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association (CAA) for 2019 will take place Monday, November 11. The meeting will feature a presentation by member Steve Gallant entitled, “Catching the Sun: Robert McMath and the McMath-Hulbert Solar Observatory.”

Located north of Pontiac, Michigan and opened in 1929, after the initial attempts to study the moon, the main preoccupation of the observatory was the sun. McMath-Hulbert was once the second largest solar observatory in the world. Spears will fill us in on the observatory’s history and the current efforts to preserve and promote its continued use!

The CAA’s monthly meetings are held on the second Monday of every month except December at 7:30 p.m. in the Rocky River Nature Center; 24000 Valley Parkway; North Olmsted, Ohio, in the Cleveland Metroparks. Meeting programs are open to the public. Following the presentation and a brief social break, the club will conduct its membership business meeting.

August 12 Membership Meeting features talk on the European Scientific Revolution

James Guilford , , , , ,

Anne Kugler, Ph.D.

The August 12, 2019 meeting of the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association (CAA) will host featured speaker Anne Kugler, Professor of History, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, and Director of the M.A. in Humanities, John Carroll University. Dr. Kugler’s talk titled, “Madame du Chatelet and the Origins of Science,” will describe how the Scientific Revolution challenged everything Europeans understood about humans and the natural world. The Enlightenment shaped how this new field of “science” was practiced in the social environment. The example of Madame du Chatelet shows how the development of physics and astronomy were grounded in the cultural context of eighteenth-century France.

The CAA’s monthly meetings are held on the second Monday of every month (except December) at 7:30 PM at the Rocky River Nature Center; 24000 Valley Parkway; North Olmsted, Ohio, in the Cleveland Metroparks. Meeting programs are open to the public. Following the presentation and a brief social break, the club will conduct its membership business meeting.

April 8 Membership Meeting: The Great Melbourne Telescope rises again

James Guilford , , , , , ,

Photo: Author Trudy E. Bell, M.A.
Trudy E. Bell, M.A.

The April 2019 Membership Meeting of the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association will take place on Monday, April 8 beginning at 7:30 PM. The evening’s program, “Rising From the Ashes: Restoration of the Great Melbourne Telescope,” will be presented by Trudy E. Bell, M.A. Ms. Bell is a Sky & Telescope Contributing Editor, 2006 recipient of the American Astronomical Society’s David N. Schramm Award, and board member of the Antique Telescope Society.

When completed in 1869, the Great Melbourne Telescope was the world’s largest equatorial reflector. Today, 150 years later — after a bushfire that devastated the Mount Stromlo Observatory — Australian opticians and machinists are restoring the GMT to become one of the world’s largest telescopes for public outreach! Ms. Bell’s latest article about the restoration appears in the October 2018 issue of Sky and Telescope magazine.

Photo: Photo: The Great Melbourne Telescope was built by Thomas Grubb of Dublin in 1868 and erected at Melbourne Observatory in 1869. It was a reflector telescope with a speculum (metal) mirror of 48 inches. Image Courtesy: Museums Victoria
Photo: The Great Melbourne Telescope was built by Thomas Grubb of Dublin in 1868 and erected at Melbourne Observatory in 1869. It was a reflector telescope with a speculum (metal) mirror of 48 inches. Image Courtesy: Museums Victoria

The CAA’s monthly meetings are held on the second Monday of every month (except December) at 7:30 PM at the Rocky River Nature Center; 24000 Valley Parkway; North Olmsted, Ohio, in the Cleveland Metroparks. Meeting programs are open to the public. Following the presentation and a brief social break, the club will conduct its membership business meeting.