2006 Calendar

For individual club calendars, see AANC Resource Guide. See also 2007 calendar page.

Events in previous years (Archives): 1996-2002 --||-- 2003 --||-- 2004 --||-- 2005

January, 2006

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6 Jan 2006 (Fri) "What Life on Earth Tells us About Life in the Universe" Dr. Lynn Rothschild Research Scientist, NASA-AMES Research Center, Co-Investigator, SETI Institute (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). The San Mateo County Astronomical Society general meeting 7:30pm evening, This presentation is free and open to the general public. College of San Mateo Planetarium (building 13) Parking free in Student parking lots. Directions to CSM can be found at http://www.smcas.com. Contact Marion Weiler if you need further information.
11 January 2006 (Wednesday), 7:00 pm Ask a Scientist - Topic: Black Holes, Space Warps, Time Machines: Einstein's Universe in Everyday Language Speaker: Andrew Fraknoi; Chair, Astronomy Program, Foothill College
Location: The Bazaar Cafe, 5927 California St. (22nd Ave) San Francisco 831-5620. Welcome to the bizarre and wonderful world of black holes—collapsed stars where gravity has overwhelmed every other force in the universe. In the neighborhood of these stellar corpses, strange things happen to space, time, and the unwary visitor. Learn why falling into a black hole is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience, how black holes make a serious kind of time machine possible, and how new instruments have allowed astronomers to detect the presence of these elusive dark objects in our galaxy and beyond. http://www.askascientistsf.com/calendar.html
January 21, 2006 (Saturday) SCOPE CITY PROUDLY PRESENTS: MEADE DAY, 10 am to 6 pm. Meet Meade's Representatives. See Their Product Line For 2006. Meade Technicians Will Perform:
Optical Cleaning, Mechanical & Optical Inspection On All Meade Telescopes For Free!! Special: Trade-In Offers Of Your Telescope For Any New Meade Telescope. RAFFLE. All proceeds shall be donated to local
Astronomical Associations and clubs in Northern California
If you have any questions, Please call Sam Sweiss 415-421-8800
or send Sam an email sanfrancisco@scopecity.com Flyer: http://koopm.best.vwh.net/Scope_City_Meade_Day.pdf
Scope City Website: http://www.scopecity.com - 350 Bay St., San Francisco, CA 94133. Directions to SF Scope City:
http://www.scopecity.com/showrooms.cfm#San%20Francisco
21 Jan 2006 (Saturday) Unveiling ceremony of the State Historical Marker for the first astronomical observatory in California in the town of Volcano, in the dark skies of the Sierra foothills! In cooperation with Amador County, Mount Diablo Astronomical Society member Marshal F. Merriam has been organizing the effort to have the monument erected in the correct location in Volcano. This ceremony is the culmination of that effort. The program begins at 10 am at the Volcano Town Hall. Meet family descendants of George Maderia, the man who built the observatory in 1860, and learn about the life and history of this miner turned astronomer. For more details and to secure a lunch reservation, please contact Marshal at mfmerriam at yahoo.com This effort is supported by two AANC Member clubs: the Stockton
Astronomical Society and Sacramento Valley Amateur Astronomers. See also: http://koopm.best.vwh.net/CA_Madeira_Marker_in_Volcano.pdf
http://astro.sci.uop.edu/~sas/Newsletter/VS0512.html#art3 and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Madeira. Form at http://planitarium.net/aanc/madeira/
23 January 2006 - 7:30 pm DEAN LECTURE SERIES “Digging a Comet: Results from NASA's Deep Impact Mission” In July 2005, the Deep Impact spacecraft flew by Comet Tempel 1 and released a probe which steered itself into the comet’s path. Overtaken at about 10 kilometers per second, the impactor collided with the comet while the flyby spacecraft watched. Data from this mission is providing an amazing glimpse into the life of a comet, and telling us important information about the early solar system.
Dr. Peter Schultz, Brown University, Co-Investigator, Deep Impact Mission. In Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street. Tickets are $4 at the door or by mail. http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.cfm
January 25, 2006, Wednesday, 7 pm: The Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series: Astronomer Michael Brown of Caltech will give a non-technical, illustrated talk on: Beyond Pluto: The Discovery of the "10th Planet". The Second Century Lectures celebrate the centennial of the American Astronomical Society, the main body of professional astronomers in the U.S.In the Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos Hills, California. Free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs $2. Call the series hot-line at 650-949-7888 for more information. Co-sponsored by: NASA Ames Research Center, The Foothill College Astronomy Program, The SETI Institute, The Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

February, 2006

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February 3, 7:00 - 9:00 , Public Viewing Night at Sonoma State University Observatory , featuring Orion Nebula, Mars, Saturn
FEB 6, 2006, 4pm SEEING THE INVISIBLES: THE CHALLENGE TO PARTICLE PHYSICS IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM. Dr. Hitoshi Murayama of the University of California at Berkeley will discuss the challenges in attempting to understand the 95% of the universe that is not made up of ordinary matter. Sonoma State University. Coffee at 3:30pm, Schulz 3001. http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/
6 Feb 2006 (Monday). Solving the Mystery of Short Gamma Ray Bursts. Dr. Neil Gehrels, Goddard Space Flight Center Swift Principal Investigator. Benjamin Dean Lecture Series. Gamma-ray bursts are among the most fascinating occurrences in the cosmos. Until this year, the origin of short gamma-ray bursts was a complete mystery. A new NASA satellite named Swift has now captured the first images of these events and found that they are caused by tremendous explosions in the distant universe. The lecture will be in the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco's Kanbar Hall at 7:30pm. 3200 California Street at the corner of Presidio Avenue. Tickets are available at the door for $4.
February 11, 2006 (Saturday). Northern California Historical Astronomy Luncheon and Discussion Association, NCHALADA LXXVI meeting, at Chabot Space and Science Center on. Coffee and puns at 9:30. Morning topic: Eclipses and Longitude, chaired by John Westfall. Lunch and a brief business meeting, then afternoon session, Lunar Rays chaired by Robert A. Garfinkle, FRAS. See http://nchalada.org/. Contact NCHALADA to can get announcements via e-mail. Amelia Marshall, Bob Black, Celeste Burrows, James Thomas, John Dillon, Tinka Ross, Tyler Bryant
12 Feb AANC Board meeting (telecon)
FEB 13, 2006, 4pm CREATING MINI BIG BANGS IN THE LABORATORY. Brooke Haag ('01) of the University of California, Davis will discuss how observing collisions between relativistic nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has implications for understanding conditions at the earliest stages of the universe. Sonoma State University. Coffee at 3:30pm, Schulz 3001. http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/
18 February 2006. 6:00 pm. Saturn Night at the Randall Museum. Randall Museum; 199 Museum Way; San Francisco, CA.Telescope viewing until 9:00 pm Admission is free. Join sidewalk astronomers Ken Frank and Michael Portuesi as they present a 30-minute illustrated talk on Saturn. We'll learn about the efforts of pioneering Saturn explorers Galileo, Cassini, and Huygens. Then we'll get acquainted with Saturn, its rings, and its many moons through breathtaking photos returned over the past year and a half by the NASA Cassini-Huygens mission. Finally, we'll show you how to find Saturn in the night sky and observe it,
with or without a telescope. After the talk, members of the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers will have telescopes set up for you to experience Saturn and its cloud belts, rings, and moons first-hand. For more information on the Randall Museum, including driving directions, visit the Randall's website: http://www.randallmuseum.org.
FEB 27, 2006, 4pm EVIDENCE FOR THE WARMING OF THE WORLD'S OCEANS. Dr. Tim Barnett of the University of California, San Diego will describe recent evidence for human-induced warming of the world's oceans. Sonoma State University. Coffee at 3:30pm, Schulz 3001. http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/

Mar, 2006

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1 March 2006, (Wednesday) 7 pm: Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series. Astronomer Scott Sandford of NASA's Ames Research Center - "Bringing Home a Comet: Stardust Mission Update" The Stardust mission is a spacecraft that flew by and, for the first time ever, collected samples from a comet (Comet Wild-2.) The samples were successfully returned to Earth on January 15, 2006 and are now being analyzed. (The spacecraft traveled about 2.9 billion miles over 7 years to collect and bring back samples of what may be some of the earliest material from the solar system ever seen.) Dr. Sandford, an expert on meteorites and the material between the planets, is co-investigator on the Stardust mission, and was actively involved in the recovery of the Stardust capsule in the Utah desert. He fill us in on what this historic mission accomplished and what the initial analysis of the samples is revealing. Co-sponsored by: NASA Ames Research Center; The Foothill College Astronomy Program; The SETI Institute; The Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Location: the Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos Hills, California. Free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs $2. Call the series hot-line at 650-949-7888 for more information.
6 March , 2006, 4pm ROTATING GALAXIES: CLUES TO GALAXY FORMATION. Dr. Anne Metevier of the University of California, Santa Cruz will describe her efforts to measure how fast distant disk-shaped galaxies rotate, and what this information can tell us about how galaxies formed. Sonoma State University. Coffee at 3:30pm, Schulz 3001. http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/
March 9, 2006 (Thursday) 8:00 PM. The View from the Center of the Universe. Joel R. Primack, Professor of Physics at UCSC, and Nancy Ellen Abrams, lawyer & writer. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the UC Observatories/Lick Observatory present the sixth Halliday Lecture. University Inn and Conference Center, 611 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz - http://www.ucscinn.com/map.php. Free and open to the public.
Science is establishing the first well-tested cosmology in the history of humankind. The speakers, authors of the forthcoming book THE VIEW FROM THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE, show how to visualize the Universe's key characteristics symbolically. They illuminate the astonishing fact that we intelligent beings are turning out to be cosmically central or special, based on fundamental principles of physics and cosmology. Becoming aware of our special place in the cosmos opens a sweeping new perspective on what we truly may be as humans and what we can do to resolve our personal and global challenges.
Joel R. Primack and his team use some of the world's biggest supercomputers to simulate the evolution of the Universe.
Nancy Ellen Abrams, former Fulbright scholar, with a long-term interest in the history, philosophy, and politics of science.
MAR 13, 2006, 4pm THE SEARCH FOR MASSIVE BLACK HOLES. Dr. Luis Ho of Carnegie Observatories will chronicle the discovery of massive black holes and the vital role they play in the formation and evolution of galaxies in the Universe. Sonoma State University. Coffee at 3:30pm, Schulz 3001. http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/
MAR 20, 2006, 4pm NANOWIRING THE FUTURE. Dr. Peidong Yang of the University of California at Berkeley will discuss how semiconductor nanowires will impact photonics, energy conversion, nanoelectronics, and other areas. Sonoma State University. Coffee at 3:30pm, Schulz 3001. http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/
March 24, 8:00 - 10:00 , Public Viewing Night at Sonoma State University Observatory , featuring Galaxies, Saturn
March 25, 2006 - April 2, 2006The Chico Community Observatory will be leading a tour to Egypt next year to view a solar eclipse. View the eclipse at the border region of Egypt and Libya along the Mediterranean. Sightseeing opportunities in Alexandria and Giza before and after the eclipse. The eclipse totality will last 3 minutes and 58 seconds at the planned location—Mersa Matruch/Libyan border. Kris Koenig, director of the observatory, and Dr. Claude Plymate of the National Solar Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, will host the tour. Sightseeing will include the Egyptian museum, the restored Library of Alexandria, and the Giza plateau. Double occupancy price including airfare from JFK, accommodations, air-conditioned coach transportation and some meals is $2,900.00. Emphasis on Egyptian archeoastronomy during the tour and assistance in photographing the eclipse. For more information contact Kris Koenig at (530) 343-5635 / kris{at}nccao.org
MAR 27, 2006, 4pm OPTICS WITH SLOW LIGHT. Dr. Mukund Vengalattore of the University of California at Berkeley will discuss the basics of "slow light" and present some recent results on using laser-cooled atoms to create optic elements such as amplifiers, switches and slow light waveguides. Sonoma State University. Coffee at 3:30pm, Schulz 3001. http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/

Apr, 2006

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9:00 - 11:00 Public Viewing Night - Sonoma State University Observatory - http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/observatory/pvn.html. Call before coming if it appears possible that clouds or fog may force cancellation: (707) 664-2267.
1 April 2006, 7:00 -9:30 p.m. Micke Grove Community Star Party - in the grounds of the San Joaquin County Historical Museum, at Micke Grove - between Stockton and Lodi. Coordinator: Jim Schuknecht stargazer{at}att.net
1 Apr 8:00pm Astronomy Program on Mount Tamalpais: Dr. Steve Stahler, UC Berkeley. "How Stars Are Made". Stars are the natural out come of processes that occur through out galaxies. Research has led to a good understanding of the basic evolutionary process, but deep mysteries still remain. http://www.mttam.net/Default.aspx?tabid=843 - http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/sfaa/starparties/
APR 3, 2006, 4pm STARDUST: CATCHING A COMET AND BRINGING A BIT OF IT HOME. Dr. Donald Brownlee of the University of Washington will describe the insights gained into the materials that initiated the formation of the solar system from the mission which brought back samples of the remarkably active comet Wild 2. Sonoma State University. Coffee at 3:30pm, Schulz 3001. http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/
April 7, 9:00 - 11:00 , Public Viewing Night at Sonoma State University Observatory , featuring Saturn, Moon, bright galaxies
9 Apr 2006 (Sunday) SJAA -- Auction XXV -- SJAA/Bay Area Astronomical Auction, noon until late afternoon. Houge Park in San Jose. http://ephemeris.sjaa.net/0603/h.html
10 April - California Academy of Sciences & Morrison Planetarium—Benjamin Dean Lecture - "How Stars Are Made", Dr. Steve Stahler, University of California at Berkeley. All stars are born from large gas clouds that permeate space. These clouds collapse on themselves to form primitive objects that later mature to stars like our own Sun. Although we now understand the basic evolutionary process, deep mysteries remain in this active, exciting field. 7:30 pm in Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street. Tickets are $4 at the door or by mail. See http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.cfm 415-321-8593
APR 10, 2006, 4pm STEREO 3D. Jerilynn Schisser ('03) of Real D will describe the techniques used for creating stereo three-dimensional images and their applications in movies, Mars exploration, medicine, and more. Sonoma State University. Coffee at 3:30pm, Schulz 3001. http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/
April 25, Tuesday 2 & 7:30 pm California Academy of Sciences Lecture Series The View From the Center of the Universe - Joel Primack and Nancy Abrams. Sequoia Boardroom, California Academy of Sciences 875 Howard Street San Francisco. Cost: $8 if you're not an Academy member. http://www.calacademy.org/lectures/#universe For more information, call (415) 321-8000 or e-mail lectures[at]calacademy.org
Wednesday, April 26th, 2006, 7 pm: Astronomer Ron Marzke
of San Francisco State University will give a non-technical, illustrated talk on: News from the Distant Past: How Galaxies Tell Their Stories in the Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos Hills, California. Free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs $2. Call the series hot-line at 650-949-7888 for more information and driving directions. Dr. Marzke will discuss how astronomers are taking
advantage of the "time machine" built into the travel
time of light in the universe to understand how
galaxies like our own Milky Way formed and evolved.
APR 24, 2006, 4pm NEUTRONS IN MY FAMILY. Dr. John R. Dunning, Jr. of Sonoma State University will illustrate the excitement felt by two generations of experimental physicists: his father , who participated in the first U.S. experiment to observe uranium fission and who led the group developing gaseous diffusion to separate U-235, and himself as SSU's nuclear physicist since 1969. Sonoma State University. Coffee at 3:30pm, Schulz 3001. http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/
26-30 April 2006. The 4th annual Desert Sunset Star Party. Please check details at our website http://www.chartmarker.com/sunset.htm. Registration is now open. Caballo Loco RV Ranch gives us a special camping rate for this group event. There is no star party fee this year but we will sell door prize tickets. The residents of Caballo Loco will also be serving breakfast ($3) and dinner ($5) on Saturday. We are located between Kitt Peak Observatory and Whipple Observatory, both excellent day trips. --Pat and Arleen Heimann
April 28 (Friday) 8:30 - 10 pm Stargazing with Academy Astronomer Bing Quock of California Academy of Sciences’ Morrison Planetarium, on the beautiful grounds of the San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park, including a laser-guided tour of the heavens and a deeper exploration with binoculars and a telescope. Class is cancelled in the event of cloudy weather. Classes cost $12 per person or $18 per family ($8 per person or $13 per family for Academy members). For more information, call (415) 661-1316 x354.
29 Apr 8:30pm Astronomy Program on Mount Tamalpais: Dr. Dale Cruikshank, NASA-Ames Research Center. "Small Worlds in the Distant. Solar System" We are in the midst of exploring small objects with giant telescopes and with spacecraft, such as Cassini now visiting Saturn and New Horizons on route to Pluto. http://www.mttam.net/Default.aspx?tabid=843 - http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/sfaa/starparties/

May, 2006

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MAY 1, 2006, 4pm NANOSCALE TRANSPORT OF HEAT, LIQUIDS, AND MACROMOLECULES. Dr. Arun Majumdar of the University of California at Berkeley will describe how he and his colleagues combine the science and engineering of nanometer scales to develop novel systems and technologies. Sonoma State University. Coffee at 3:30pm, Schulz 3001. http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/
1 May - California Academy of Sciences & Morrison Planetarium—Benjamin Dean Lecture - "Unpacking a Suitcase Full of Starlight: Probing the cores of stars to the clouds of exoplanets" Dr. Jaymie Matthews, University of British Columbia, MOST Mission Scientist. The Canadian MOST satellite is the most precise lightmeter ever built to study stars. Since 2003, it has seismically probed the hidden cores of Sun-like stars, mapped the complexion of a "pre-teen" version of the Sun, and studied the cloud cover on a planet we can't even see 160 light years away. Not bad for a microsat nicknamed the "Humble Space Telescope," which is not much bigger than a suitcase, and cost only US$7M. 7:30 pm in Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street. Tickets are $4 at the door or by mail. See http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.cfm 415-321-8593
May 5, 9:00 - 11:00 , Public Viewing Night at Sonoma State University Observatory , featuring Moon, Saturn, Globular Clusters
May 6, 2006. NCHALADA LXXVI Northern California Historical Astronomy Luncheon and Discussion Association http://www.nchalada.org Chabot Space & Science Center, 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland in the Board Room, Dellums Building (West end). Free parking. http://www.chabotspace.org/visit/directions.asp Refreshments and chat 9:30 AM; Morning discussion, 10 - 12:30: Measuring Astronomical Temperatures; Chair: Alan R. Fisher, Eastbay Astronomical Society. Lunch at a local restaurant, then a brief business meeting. Afternoon discussion, 2 - 5 PM: Ancient Near-East Astronomical Carvings; Chair: Nancy K. Cox, San Francisco Amateur Astronomers. The outline for the afternoon session is on the NCHALADA web site, at http://www.nchalada.org/archive/NCHALADA_LXXVII_PM.html. Please bring munchies! Contact Norm Sperling, Editor, The Journal of Irreproducible Results, 413 Poinsettia Avenue, San Mateo, California 94403. 650-573-7125; cell 650-200-9211, nsperling [at] california.com, http://www.jir.com; http://www.everythingintheuniv.com
7 May AANC Board meeting (telecon)
MAY 8, 2006, 4pm SPIN ELECTRONICS: MAGNETS AND SEMICONDUCTORS. Dr. Frances Hellman of the University of California at Berkeley will discuss the science and technology of using both the spin and charge of the electron in modern solid state electronics, focussing particularly on how to make a magnetic semiconductor. Sonoma State University. Coffee at 3:30pm, Schulz 3001. http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/
May 17, 2006 (Wednesday), 7 pm: Astronomer Joshua Bloom of the University of California, Berkeley -- Giant Cosmic Explosions: The Gamma-ray Burst Boom. Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures in the Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos Hills, California. Free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs $2. Call 650-949-7888 for more info. Dr. Bloom will discuss the brightest explosions in the universe, which were discovered accidentally by spy satellites in the 1960's. Called Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB's), these explosions involve mind-boggling amounts of energy. New satellites in orbit around the Earth are allowing scientists to monitor these sudden bursts and to watch the afterglow that follows the explosions.
May 26 (Friday) 8:30 - 10 pm Stargazing with Academy Astronomer Bing Quock, of California Academy of Sciences’ Morrison Planetarium, on the beautiful grounds of the San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park, including a laser-guided tour of the heavens and a deeper exploration with binoculars and a telescope. Class is cancelled in the event of cloudy weather. Classes cost $12 per person or $18 per family ($8 per person or $13 per family for Academy members). For more information, call (415) 661-1316 x354.
May 26-28 RTMC.

June, 2006

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3 Jun 8:30pm Astronomy Program on Mount Tamalpais: Seth Shostak, SETI Institute. "The Latest Skinny on SETI". Despite more than four decades of searching, astronomers have heard nothing. Is this a quixotic mission, or could there soon be proof that someone is out there? What are the latest efforts to find someone in space who's at least as clever as you are? http://www.mttam.net/Default.aspx?tabid=843 - http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/sfaa/starparties/
June 3rd 9:30 PM 12:00 AM 1st Qtr Moon; Coyote Star Party - Coyote Lake County Park. http://observers.org/sites/CL/ - SJAA and TAC
19 June - California Academy of Sciences & Morrison Planetarium—Benjamin Dean Lecture - "The First Stars in the Universe" Dr. Aparna Venkatesan, University of Colorado. Modern cosmological observations imply that the first stars in the universe were unique objects that strongly influenced their environment, despite their brief existence. This talk will present the current data and theoretical ideas on these stars, and how future telescopes can detect them. 7:30 pm in Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street. Tickets are $4 at the door or by mail. See http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.cfm 415-321-8593
June 21- 26. Shingletown Star Party. Site at 4,000 feet on slopes of southern Cascade Mountains, 17 miles from Mount Lassen Volcanic National Park. Takes place on the runway of a closed airport, five minutes outside the town of Shingletown, where groceries, gas, restaurants, necessities and not so necessities are close at hand. Shower truck provided on-site as part of the admission price. First night: pot luck dinner at the hospitality tent. Friday night: BBQ dinner. Saturday night: public star party.
30 June - 1 July Yosemite Star Party by Central Valley Astronomers, Inc. see http://www.aanc-astronomy.org/yosemite.html

July, 2006

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1 Jul 8:30pm Astronomy Program on Mount Tamalpais: Dr. Lynn Cominsky, Sonoma State University. "A 'Swift' View of the Universe". NASA's Swift mission studies gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the Universe. Learn how black holes are created when stars die, and how one galactic neutron starquake changed our Earth's atmosphere. http://www.mttam.net/Default.aspx?tabid=843 - http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/sfaa/starparties/
July 1st 9:30 PM 12:00 AM 1st Qtr Moon; Coyote Star Party - Coyote Lake County Park. http://observers.org/sites/CL/ - SJAA and TAC
7-8 July Yosemite Star Party
9 Jul AANC Board meeting (telecon)
12 July. Jane H. Jones' Cassini talk - SCAS on http://www.sonomaskies.org/ .
14-15 July Yosemite Star Party by San Francisco Amateur Astronomers see http://www.aanc-astronomy.org/yosemite.html
21-22 July Yosemite Star Party by San Jose Astronomical Association see http://www.aanc-astronomy.org/yosemite.html
28-29 July Yosemite Star Party by Sonoma County Astronomical Society (S.C.A.S.) see http://www.aanc-astronomy.org/yosemite.html
29 Jul 8:30pm Astronomy Program on Mount Tamalpais: Dr. Eugene Chiang, UC Berkeley. "The Tenth Planet and Beyond". Since 1992, astronomers have discovered over 1000 icy, rocky objects beyond Neptune, one larger than Pluto. What is known about this "Kuiper Belt" of bodies and what are the implications for the formation of our planetary system? http://www.mttam.net/Default.aspx?tabid=843 - http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/sfaa/starparties/
July 29th 9:00 PM 12:00 AM 1st Qtr Moon; Coyote Star Party - Coyote Lake County Park. http://observers.org/sites/CL/ - SJAA and TAC

August, 2006

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4-5 Aug Yosemite Star Party 11-12 Aug Yosemite Star Party
18 August. Annual Barcroft High Altitude Star Party EAS http://www.eastbayastro.org/index/refractr.htm
18-19 August Yosemite Star Party by Mount Diablo Astronomical Society see http://www.aanc-astronomy.org/yosemite.html
August 19th 8:30 PM - 12:00 AM 3rd Qtr Moon; Coyote Star Party - Coyote Lake County Park. http://observers.org/sites/CL/ - SJAA and TAC
25-26 August Yosemite Star Party by Peninsula Astronomical Society see http://www.aanc-astronomy.org/yosemite.html
26 August. FPOA 20th Year Anniversary Party, John Dobson Day & Night and AANC Awards Star B Q http://www.fpoa.net/
August 25, 9:00 - 11:00, Public Viewing Night at Sonoma State University Observatory , featuring Jupiter, Eagle Nebula, Trifid Nebula
26 Aug 8:30pm Astronomy Program on Mount Tamalpais: John Dillon, Randall Museum "Ancient Astronomy, the First Science" The pinnacle of ancient Greek science was the amazingly sophisticated astronomy developed more than 2000 years ago at the legendary Museum of Alexandria. http://www.mttam.net/Default.aspx?tabid=843 - http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/sfaa/starparties/
August 26. FPOA 20th Anniversary StarBQ.

September, 2006

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1-4 September Yosemite Star Party by Tri-Valley Stargazers see http://www.aanc-astronomy.org/yosemite.html
10 Sep AANC Board meeting (telecon)
11 September, Mon 7:30 pm - Dr. Charles Wood, Wheeling Jesuit University & Titan Radar Mapper Team: "Exploration of a New World" - Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street (at Presidio Avenue). Titan is the largest piece of unexplored real estate in the solar system. It is bigger than the planet Mercury and has a dense atmosphere. The Cassini radar instrument is discovering volcanoes, river channels and dunes - features that make Titan the most Earth-like object in the solar system. Tickets $4. More info: http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.cfm - deanseries@calacademy.org or call 415-321-8000.
September 21-23. CalStar (south of King City) http://www.sjaa.net/calstar/.
23 Sep 8:00pm Astronomy Program on Mount Tamalpais: Dr. Chris McKay, NASA-Ames Research Center. "Latest results from the Huygens' Mission to Titan". Last year the Huygens Probe landed successfully on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. What we saw was not what we expected. Hear the latest results from the analysis of the data from the Probe. http://www.mttam.net/Default.aspx?tabid=843 - http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/sfaa/starparties/
September 30th 8:00 PM 11:00 PM 1st Qtr Moon; Coyote Star Party - Coyote Lake County Park. http://observers.org/sites/CL/ - SJAA and TAC

October, 2006

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Oct. 4th, 2006, 7 pm, Wednesday, "Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe" by Astronomer Alex Filippenko of the University of California, Berkeley; Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture in the Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos Hills, California. Free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs $2. Call the series hot-line at 650-949-7888 for more information and driving directions. Co-sponsored by: * NASA Ames Research Center * The Foothill College Astronomy Program * The SETI Institute * The Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
9 October, Mon 7:30 pm - Dr. Steve Ritz, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: "The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope" - Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street (at Presidio Avenue). GLAST is scheduled for launch in 2007. It will join existing gamma-ray observatories to address major questions such as the the origin of black hole particle jets, the nature of dark matter, and the source of gamma-ray bursts. The Morrison Planetarium's Hume Observatory is the home to an automated telescope that is part of the GLAST Telescope Network, already providing follow-up optical observations of gamma-ray sources. Tickets $4. More info: http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.cfm - deanseries@calacademy.org or call 415-321-8000.
25 October 2006 (Wednesday) 7:30PM - Pluto, Eris, and the Dwarf Planets of the Solar System, Stanford Bunyan Lecturer: Mike Brown from Caltech. Kresge Auditorium on the Stanford Campus. For the past seven years we've been scanning the skies for planets beyond Pluto. In 2005, after a search of about half of the sky and the discovery of dozens of objects almost the size of Pluto, we finally found Eris, the first object larger than Pluto, and the first that might have been called a new planet. In addition to a new avalanche of scientific questions, this discovery drives home the need to answer a question that astronomers have been unwilling to answer for years: "What is a planet?" I'll discuss the story of the discovery and try to give a perspective on why the question of planethood is difficult and why the new class of dwarf planets was created to describe all of these objects.
28 Oct 2006 (Saturday) "A NIGHT OF MAGIC - A PARTY OUT OF THIS WORLD", 5 to 10 p.m. at De Anza College. Join us and "go where no one has gone before" -- as you support the De Anza Planetarium renewal project, including the install of the new Konica-Minolta Infinium S star projector. The evening will feature a dazzling laser light extravaganza, premium local wine and beer tasting, silent and live auctions, a scrumptious dinner, dancing the night away with lively music from "Swingshift" and, of course, star viewing. Questions? Call 650-949-6230 or click on http://www.deanza.edu/planetarium/night_of_magic.html to learn more and reserve your space on our secure website.

November, 2006

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November 4, 2006, Saturday, NCHALADA LXXVIII Northern California Historical Astronomy Luncheon and Discussion Association http://www.nchalada.org - Chabot Space & Science Center, 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland in the Board Room, Dellums Building (West end). Free parking. http://www.chabotspace.org/visit/directions.asp - Refreshments and chat 9:30 AM; Morning discussion, 10 - 12:30: White Elephants: Abandoned & Unfunded Telescopes, Spacecraft, etc. Chair: Norm Sperling, Editor The Journal of Irreproducible Results. Lunch probably at Harry's Hofbrau, then a brief business meeting. Afternoon discussion, 2 - 5 PM: History of the Constellations of Many Cultures Chair: Nancy K. Cox, San Francisco Amateur Astronomers. Please bring munchies! For further information, contact Norm Sperling, Editor, The Journal of Irreproducible Results 413 Poinsettia Avenue, San Mateo, California 94403.
8 November - Mercury Transit - 11:12am PST until 4:10pm PST
Nov. 8, 2006, Wednesday, 7 pm: Astronomer Dale Cruikshank of NASA's Ames Research Center will give a non-technical, illustrated talk on: "The Planet Pluto: Maligned but Not Forgotten" Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture in the Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos Hills, California. Free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs $2. Call the series hot-line at 650-949-7888 for more information and driving directions. Co-sponsored by: * NASA Ames Research Center * The Foothill College Astronomy Program * The SETI Institute * The Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Dr. Cruikshank is one of the world's foremost authorities on the outer solar system. He and his colleagues discovered the ices that make up Pluto's surface and evaporate to form its thin atmosphere. New Horizons Mission at Pluto Painting: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/gallery/artistConcepts/artistConcepts_04.html Painting of Pluto and Charon from one of the small new moons: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2005/19/image/d
27 November, Mon 7:30 pm - Dr. George Rieke, Deputy Director, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona: "Spitzer - The Last of the Great Observatories" - Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street (at Presidio Avenue). Over 20 years after starting the project, NASA launched the Spitzer infrared telescope into space as the last of the great observatories that began with the Hubble Telescope. Why did it take so long? Was it worth it? This talk will illustrating Spitzer's capabilities by showing what we have learned about other planetary systems. Spitzer results are revealing new aspects of how the Earth formed and about the collisions that still occur among planets and asteroids. Tickets $4. More info: http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.cfm - deanseries@calacademy.org or call 415-321-8000.

December, 2006

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3 Dec AANC Board meeting (telecon).
11 December, Mon 7:30 pm - Dr. Albert Haldemann, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory:
"The Science of Spirit and Opportunity" - Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street (at Presidio Avenue). The scientific results obtained to date from the Mars Exploration Rovers are extensive. In one and a half Martian years on the planet Spirit has explored the varied rocks of the 'Columbia Hills,' from the summit of 'Husband Hill' into the 'Inner Basin,' while Opportunity verified past surface water in sedimentary rocks kilometers apart inside 'Eagle Crater,' 'Endurance Crater,' 'Erebus Crater' and 'Victoria Crater.' Tickets $4. More info: http://www.calacademy.org/planetarium/dean.cfm - deanseries@calacademy.org or call 415-321-8000.

January, 2007

Additions should be sent to Alan Gould