Our June speaker, Dr. Steve Danford from UNC Greensboro, will be discussing the latest information on the Globular Clusters that orbit our Galaxy. These dense clusters of stars are among the most fascinating objects in our galaxy and a favorite target for amateurs with small telescopes.  Join us on the 25th for insights into what…

FAS May 2013 Meeting Exoplanets   Explore beyond the Solar System at the May meeting of the Forsyth Astronomical Society. Prior to the 1990s, the only known planets were the nine orbiting the Sun. At the time, of course, Pluto was considered a Planet. In 1995, astronomers found a Jupiter sized planet orbiting the star…

“You can almost touch the stars” Webiner presenter : Tom Field Even if you wanted to touch a star, they’re impossibly distant. But despite these great distances, researchers have learned a great deal about quite a few stars. How? The most common method to study the stars is called spectroscopy, which is the art and…

Tuesday March 26, 2013 Sci Works: 7:30 pm Program: Radio Astronomy at 21 cm   Rexford Adelberger, Ph.D. Professor of Physics, Emeritus Guilford College Dr Adelberger’s talk on March 26th will explain the generation and detection of radio signals. He will then describe the radio astronomy program at Guilford College that is tuned to the…

Discussion leader/Presenter: Bruce Mellin Comet Conversations We are fortunate this year to be expecting the passage of two interesting comets. Both have hyperbolic orbits and are approaching the Sun for the first time. Predicting the brightness of even known periodic comets is well known to be a tricky business. Professional and amateur astronomers alike will…

Mars 3-D links Links to current Mars missions: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/ “Mars in 3-D: Images from the Viking Mission” (NASA movie, 1979) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubRHSg5daMs HiRISE Anaglyphs: “Explore Mars, One Giant Image at a Time” (2,899 images!!!) http://www.uahirise.org/ Explore Mars! – Spirit’s Journey (interactive web site) http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/explore/spirit/ Explore Mars! – Curiosity’s Journey (interactive web site) http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/explore/curiosity/  

*Hi FAS folks: Our next meeting will be tomorrow night, January 22, starting at 7:30 PM at Sci-Works. Our program, “Attacking Mars – in 3D,” presented by JPL Solar System Ambassador Jonathan Ward. It will include an overview of the best 3D images from the Mars Rovers. NASA’s Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity rovers have collectively driven more…