Eclipses and the 2007 Turkey Solar Eclipse

Michael is a physician, musician, active amateur astronomer, and all-round interesting guy!

Jim Burnell is an avid amateur astronomer and telescope maker. He is a co-author of The Handbook of Astronomical Image Processing and the Astronomical Image Processing for Windows software package. In his day job, he is an electrical engineer, managing a group of engineers designing fiberoptic telecom and datacom products. Check out: http://www.jburnell.com

Ed has been a science teacher for the past 24 years, 22 of them at Rondout Valley High School in Accord, NY. He has been teaching astronomy to 11th and 12th graders for the past seven years. He received a Bachelor's degree from SUNY Oneonta and a Master's degree from the College of Staten Island. Ed worked at NEAF (the NorthEast Astronomy Forum) the past four years in the children's corner. Ed says he has loved learning about astronomy all of his life. He has been a member of the MHAA for about 20 years. Ed is 46 years old and married with 2 daughters.

Stars like the Sun along with stars of much higher and lower masses are observed to be forming in the dense clouds of space. It takes about 100,000 years to make a star, and usually many form together in tight clusters. Star formation can also be observed in very distant galaxies, galaxies that are so far away that their light has been traveling to us for almost the full age of the Universe. We see these galaxies as they looked when they were young, and so can determine directly how galaxies and the stars inside of them first formed. There are some interesting differences between galaxies then and now, but the fundamental physical processes appear to be the same. This talk will highlight star formation processes that are observed in the constellations Orion and Ophiuchus, and it will show images of very early star formation in the Ultra Deep Field of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Dr. Elmegreen works in the Physical Sciences Department of the Research Division of IBM at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York.

"A Sidewalk Astronomer" is Jacobs’ film about John Dobson of “Sidewalk Astronomers” and the Dobsonian telescope fame (who also spoke to the club in 2006). Check out http://www.telescopepictures.com
We'll be showing the film at 6:30 that evening. So, if you have not seen it (we showed it last year), come early and enjoy!
Jeffrey Fox Jacobs is President of Jacobs Entertainment Inc, a film buying and marketing firm. A Sidewalk Astronomer is Mr. Jacobs' first feature film. Prior to his work in exhibition and distribution, Mr. Jacobs worked in freelance film production as an editor, production manager, and assistant director. He is also an active amateur astronomer and member of the Sidewalk Astronomers (in the New York area).

This meeting is at the Vassar College Observatory: http://physicsandastronomy.vassar.edu/observatory.html

Dr. Chromey is the Matthew Vassar Jr. Professor of Astronomy and the Director of the Vassar College Observatory.

It’s a sunny day on Gliese 581C. It’s always a sunny day - the same sunny day. The planet’s star, a mere seven million miles away, shines as a huge red ball in a dull gray sky and never, ever sets. Gliese 581c is a water world, not liquid water but hot, solid water called ice-VII....*

Almost 600 “exoplanets” have been identified in the last decade or so. I will survey how these planets are identified, and what current theory suggests they might be like, from “hot Jupiters” and “almost-Earths” to “rock-giants” and diamond-crusted “Carbon planets.”

* (adapted from “Alien Earths”, by Sara Seager, Sky and Telescope, Jan., 2008).

Dr. Skiff is a Professor of Physics at Bard College. Among many courses, he teaches Astronomy and Cosmology.

Bob’s newest book is co-authored with Robert Lanza, the guy who's getting all the stem cell headlines, but the book is about whether the entire universe is a biological entity. He will expand that to all sorts of possibilities and do a talk about the various cosmological (and other) ways of conceiving the universe as a whole, and what evidence there is, to support various views. Bob Berman is one of the best-known and most widely-read astronomers in the world. He is perhaps uniquely able to translate complex scientific concepts into language that is understandable to the casual observer yet meaningful to the most advanced. His dry, edgy wit engages readers of such diverse publications as Discover Magazine, Astronomy Magazine, and The Old Farmers Almanac.

Dr. Biswas is a physics professor at SUNY New Paltz. He is well-known for his esoteric interests and unique opinions on modern physics, astronomy, and cosmology. He is a long-time favorite of the MHAA! Check out: http://www.engr.newpaltz.edu/~biswast/

Yosi is the host of "You'd Prefer an Astronaut," a weekly astronomy radio show (Wednesdays, 7-8 AM) on Vassar College radio WVKR 91.3 FM. He is actively involved in Astronomy research working on neutron stars. Keeping it all in the family, his wife works on supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies!