Ames Area Amateur Astronomers

The AAAA and the Story County Conservation Board host monthly educational programs for the public from January to November. Meetings are on the 3rd Saturday of each month, except December, starting at 7:00 PM. We congregate at 7 PM for a Meet and Greet with the meeting starting at 7:30. Visitors are encouraged to join us. A list of the programs for this year can be found below.

All programs will be held at the Story County Conservation Center at McFarland Park unless noted otherwise in the program for that month. Presentations are subject to change. Afterwards, weather and and sunset permitting, we will move to the club's Observatory located just East of the Story County Conservation Center for astronomical observing. Telescopes and binoculars will be available for your viewing pleasure.

At each of our meetings we include a short description of a few of the astronomical sights that can be seen during the coming month.

		MEETINGS FOR 2018
Jan 20	The Age of the Solar System	Rick Whitten will talk about how we dated the eart and solar system, the important Iowa connection, and how we all benefitted as a result.
Feb 17	Servicing the Hubble Space Telescope	The presentation this month will focus on the preparations required to support the final servicing mission (STS-125, Servicing Mission 4)of the Hubble Space Telescope. Complexities pre-launch and issues which needed to be resolved during the mission to accomplish a successful final servicing mission. Tomas Gonzales-Torres was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. He earned a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering from Iowa State University in 1998. He was named the 82nd Flight Director at NASA in 2011. He served as Flight Director for four years, earning the prestigious NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal for his exceptional performance as head of an International Space Station Expedition. He is now on the faculty at Iowa State University.
*Mar 17*	The Making and Testing of Optics for Telescopes	Drew Sorenson will share his experience in making and testing of optics for telescopes. He will have some optics to demonstrate both the grinding and testing methods.
*Apr 21*	Looking at the Solar System in 3D	Vern Naffler will provide a look at the Solar System in 3-D using anaglyphic 3-D glasses. Vern is from a neighboring Astronomy Club - The Des Moines Astronomical Society.
May 19	Gravitational Waves	Sam Wormley:Gravitational Waves: A New Era of Astronomy Begins as we explore the study of the universe using fundamentally different types of emission."
June 16	Picnic	AAAA Picnic for club members (no presentation)
July 21
Aug 18	A Guide to Astronomical Nomenclature	Dr. Danny Faulker who has an MS in Physics from Clemson University and an MA and PhD in Astronomy from Indiana University will be giving a presentation on Astronomy Nomenclature: Like any science, astronomers have names for the things we study. To the unitiated, astronomical nomenclature can be bewildering. Join me as I decipher and explain many of the naming conventions astronomers use.
Sept 15
Oct 20		Inverse Square Law by Ed Engle
Nov 17
Dec 15	Christmas Party	This is a party time for members.

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	About The Ames Astronomers

	Mission Statement

	Adams Observatory

	Astronomy Equipment Loan

	Outreach Opportunities

	Monthly Meetings

	Club Committees

	Membership

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