Bluegrass Amateur Astronomy Club (Lexington, KY)

The April "Sky Talk" is this Thursday night, the 14th, at 8 p.m. in Room 155 of the Chem-Physics Bldg. on UK campus. The speaker is Dr. Pamela Marcum of NASA. She grew up in Louisa in eastern Kentucky where science was not stressed in the schools, especially for women. She has had a varied career in NASA and currently is the project scientist for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). She will tell us about "NASA's SOFIA Observatory: Observing the Universe from 42,000 Feet." .

You can park free in the parking structure across Rose St. from the C-P Bldg. The entrance is on Hilltop Dr. Weather permitting, observing will take place at MacAdam Observatory on top of the parking structure following the talk.

Despite cold weather, we had a decently well attended April observing session! Thanks for those who attended!

The sky was very clear, and the seeing was decent. Jupiter looked nice and wowed folks, and we observed galaxies, star clusters, and planetary nebulae. 4 telescopes were set up by club members, and there were 51 people from the public.

It's going to be a cold but clear night at Raven run for observing, so it is officially a go! The meeting starts at 8:30 pm. The main gate at Raven Run is open for parking and park personnel there will direct you to the observing field.

Persons with telescopes can drive up a dirt road by the barn (turn off just before the main gate) and park at the edge of the observing field.

Our April observing is at Raven Run is this Saturday night, the 9th. The sun sets around 8:05, so the gates should be open around 7:30 This with telescopes should enter the unpaved road by the black barn about .15 of a mile before the main gate on Jacks Creek Rd. and drive to Prather Field beyond the old house to park and set up. Those without 'scopes should park in the lot beyond the main gate and walk to the field. Park personnel will be there to direct you. If the weather is "iffy", call the park at 272-6105 an hour or so before sunset to see whether observing will take place.

The club's remaining monthly observing meetings this year are: May 7, June 4, July 2, August 6, Sept. 3, Oct.1, and Oct. 29.

BGAAC will have observing at the darker skies at Shaker Village again this year. The dates are April 30 at 9:30, July 9 at 9:45, and Oct. 22 at 7:45. Back up dates for April and July are May 28 at 9:35 and Aug. 27 at 9:15. There isn't a back up for Oct.

The Physics and Astronomy Dept.'s April "Sky Talk" is Thursday, the 14th, in Room 155 of UK's Chemistry-Physics Bldg. It will feature Dr. Pamela Markum talking about "Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy."

Jim Lovell, an astronaut on several flights and who uttered the famous "Houston, we have a problem" after an explosion on Apollo 13 will give a talk after a dinner at the Bluegrass Ballroom in the Lexington Center on April 7th. It's a fund raising event for the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Foundation; the price is $175 per person. If you're interested in attending, call the Foundation at 859-323-5374.