Hello SJAA Members and Friends,
Happy Summer Solstice! The San Jose Astronomical Association will be holding a public star party this Friday, June 24 at Houge Park from about 9:30PM to midnight.
Saturn and showy objects of the summer sky will be featured.
The weather has been great, but there might be some increasing cloudiness, but it should not deter us! Keep an eye on it here:
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?site=mtr&smap=1&textField1=3...
ALSO: We will hold a beginners astronomy class that same night, starting at 8:30PM. The topic will be about gear: Eyepieces, filters, finders and accessories. Perfect timing, to help you get ready for GSSP next week!
Bring your friends, family and neighbors, it's fun and it's free!
Directions to Houge Park are on the website, we set up near the tennis courts.
http://www.sjaa.net/directions.shtml
Coordinates: 37.2575,-121.9423
See you in the dark!
Rob Jaworski
San Jose Astronomical Association
www.sjaa.net
twitter: sj_astronomy
http://sanjoseastronomy.blogspot.com/
14 June 2011
Lecturers, Speakers and Guests
The San Jose Astronomical Association has a long history of inviting guest speakers to come and give astronomy themed talks at the monthly general meetings. The list of guest speakers have ranged from fellow SJAA members discussing their experiences with certain aspects of amateur astronomy to NASA research scientists working on never-been-done-or-seen before work. We keep a table of the lecturers that we have had the honor of hosting over the past several years. You can see just from the titles of the talks the wide range of areas that we bring to the membership.
I would like to talk this opportunity to recognize the amazing amount of behind the scenes work that goes on to bring these speakers to the meetings, month after month. For several years, longtime club member Dave Smith worked tirelessly to source, track down, make contact, schedule and coordinate an entire host of speakers. We really do appreciate his efforts in making the monthly meetings and speaker series really top notch.
Several months ago, Dave decided he needed a break and so handed the reins over to the SJAA board of directors. Though we have been able to keep the program going with the same high caliber of speakers, it's time that we asked for some help.
Going forward, we'd like to open this up to everyone. Here's how we envision it working.
Anyone, and I mean that literally, can contact a potential speaker to determine their interest in giving a presentation to the SJAA. But there cannot be a commitment made on behalf of SJAA before first getting approval from the president and vice president (Mark Wagner and Greg Claytor).
On the SJAA's Google Calendar Mark will maintain the General Meeting schedule, which anyone will be able to peruse, containing confirmed speakers. This will allow us all to see what dates are open.
Our goal is be to have firm speaker commitments for six months minimum, more if possible.
If there are any interesting individuals you'd like to see come and speak at the SJAA, please feel free to reach out to them! If you need any help or support, or just have questions, please feel free to contact me, Rob Jaworski (rob <dot> jaworski <at> sjaa <dot> net) or any of the SJAA board members.
On behalf of the SJAA board and the entire member community, Thank You!
Rob Jaworski
San Jose Astronomical Association
I would like to talk this opportunity to recognize the amazing amount of behind the scenes work that goes on to bring these speakers to the meetings, month after month. For several years, longtime club member Dave Smith worked tirelessly to source, track down, make contact, schedule and coordinate an entire host of speakers. We really do appreciate his efforts in making the monthly meetings and speaker series really top notch.
Several months ago, Dave decided he needed a break and so handed the reins over to the SJAA board of directors. Though we have been able to keep the program going with the same high caliber of speakers, it's time that we asked for some help.
Going forward, we'd like to open this up to everyone. Here's how we envision it working.
Anyone, and I mean that literally, can contact a potential speaker to determine their interest in giving a presentation to the SJAA. But there cannot be a commitment made on behalf of SJAA before first getting approval from the president and vice president (Mark Wagner and Greg Claytor).
On the SJAA's Google Calendar Mark will maintain the General Meeting schedule, which anyone will be able to peruse, containing confirmed speakers. This will allow us all to see what dates are open.
Our goal is be to have firm speaker commitments for six months minimum, more if possible.
If there are any interesting individuals you'd like to see come and speak at the SJAA, please feel free to reach out to them! If you need any help or support, or just have questions, please feel free to contact me, Rob Jaworski (rob <dot> jaworski <at> sjaa <dot> net) or any of the SJAA board members.
On behalf of the SJAA board and the entire member community, Thank You!
Rob Jaworski
San Jose Astronomical Association
13 June 2011
New Loaner Telescopes Are Going Out
I am happy to report that of the seven new Orion telescopes that the SJAA acquired at the end of last year, we now have five of them out on loan. This was a long time coming, and I would like to thank not only the Board members for supporting and putting in time, but also other members who helped assemble and tune the scopes.
As a reminder, at the end of 2010, the SJAA found itself in a situation where we had to spend a certain amount of money by the end of the year. We decided that it was high time to invest into new, updated equipment. We created a list of scopes, all Dobsonian reflectors in the XT line from Orion, that met the spending criteria we had, and then placed the order. We not only purchased the scopes, but we assembled complete starter kits, including sky maps, Barlows, red LED lights, books and other accessories to make observing sessions as enjoyable as possible for budding new amateur astronomers.
If you are interested in taking advantage of this excellent program, please review the loaner program web page for details. It is also important to know is that you need to be an approved member of the club, so please be sure that your membership is up to date. If you are unsure of your status, please contact me (Rob Jaworski), as I am the membership chair (you can email me at rob <dot> jaworski <at> sjaa <dot> net). If you would like to join the SJAA, it's quick, easy and inexpensive.
Again, let me recognize all the effort that went into the loaner program revamp, and I hope that the people who are borrowing them are enjoying them!
See you in the dark!
Rob Jaworski
San Jose Astronomical Association
As a reminder, at the end of 2010, the SJAA found itself in a situation where we had to spend a certain amount of money by the end of the year. We decided that it was high time to invest into new, updated equipment. We created a list of scopes, all Dobsonian reflectors in the XT line from Orion, that met the spending criteria we had, and then placed the order. We not only purchased the scopes, but we assembled complete starter kits, including sky maps, Barlows, red LED lights, books and other accessories to make observing sessions as enjoyable as possible for budding new amateur astronomers.
If you are interested in taking advantage of this excellent program, please review the loaner program web page for details. It is also important to know is that you need to be an approved member of the club, so please be sure that your membership is up to date. If you are unsure of your status, please contact me (Rob Jaworski), as I am the membership chair (you can email me at rob <dot> jaworski <at> sjaa <dot> net). If you would like to join the SJAA, it's quick, easy and inexpensive.
Again, let me recognize all the effort that went into the loaner program revamp, and I hope that the people who are borrowing them are enjoying them!
See you in the dark!
Rob Jaworski
San Jose Astronomical Association
06 June 2011
SJAA Blog
This is our welcome blog post, from the San Jose Astronomical Association. We have our various email lists and website, but I thought we were still missing some vital components to a true Web 2.0 presence for the club.
Here, you can subscribe to this blog where I plan to post write ups about some of our events, such as our public star parties, beginner astronomy classes and speaker events. You can keep track of upcoming events, too.
Please feel free to post comments and suggestions. We are really interested in hearing what our membership thinks where the club should be going, what it should be focusing on, and this could be a very good way to start and continue the conversation!
Look forward to posting more here soon. In the meantime, clear skies, and I'll see you in the dark!
Rob Jaworski
San Jose Astronomical Association
Here, you can subscribe to this blog where I plan to post write ups about some of our events, such as our public star parties, beginner astronomy classes and speaker events. You can keep track of upcoming events, too.
Please feel free to post comments and suggestions. We are really interested in hearing what our membership thinks where the club should be going, what it should be focusing on, and this could be a very good way to start and continue the conversation!
Look forward to posting more here soon. In the meantime, clear skies, and I'll see you in the dark!
Rob Jaworski
San Jose Astronomical Association
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