2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, so come out to the Lake Afton Public Observatory (LAPO) and help celebrate the occasion.
鈥淎stronomy of the Future鈥� will be presented Jan. 16-17 and 23-24 and Feb. 13-14, 20-21, and 27-28.
With ever faster computers, giant Earth-based telescopes and telescopes in space, the tools astronomers use to study the universe have changed dramatically over the past 20 years. What types of changes might the next 20 years bring?
LAPO will explore some possible answers with observations of Venus, a giant dying star, a cluster of stars, clouds of interstellar gas and dust and a distant galaxy.
鈥淒iscoveries of Galileo鈥� will be presented Jan. 9-10 and 30-31 and Feb. 6-7. It has now been 400 years since Galileo became the first person ever to point a telescope at the heavens. Imagine what it would have been like to discover that the Moon was not a perfect sphere but had mountains, craters and 鈥渟eas.鈥�
See Venus in different phases similar to the moon just as Galileo did. And finally, go through the thought process of trying to measure the distance to the stars just as Galileo did.
The observatory also has relevant exhibits to enhance its telescope programs. Several current exhibits deal with telescopes, past, present and future and the moon and its phases.
Some exhibits let you make a telescope, explore the properties of light, touch a rock from space, use a computer to go on a scavenger hunt through the solar system or land a spacecraft on the moon, use a small telescope or binoculars to find objects in the sky, and much more.
The observatory also has photography programs once a month where anyone with a 35mm single-lens reflex camera can take celestial photographs using the Observatory's 16-inch telescope as a giant telephoto lens.
At 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17 LAPO will photograph Venus, and at 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, LAPO will photograph the Orion Nebula (M 42).
For the photography programs, 400 or 800 speed film and a cable release are recommended. Please note that automatic 35mm cameras without a manual override cannot be used to take astronomical photos.
If you do not have the proper camera, bring a USB flash drive instead. After you use the observatory鈥檚 digital SLR to take your pictures, they will be transfered to your flash drive for you to take home and print.
The Lake Afton Public Observatory is operated by the Fairmount Center for Science and Mathematics Education, a part of the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Science at 黑洞社区.