Next meeting: July 27 with CCAS President Joseph Carro on Astronomy
CCAS President Joseph Carro will be guest our speaker for our July CCAS meeting (we do not have a meeting in August). He will cover fundamentals about Astronomy, a brief review of measurement methods, how the big bang was discovered, a new look at the Milky Way, and the rings of Saturn.
Joseph has been a very active member of our club since 2004. His avocation is the study of binary stars, and he has more than 20 publications on that subject. He has made presentations across our county to many groups, and has conducted training sessions on the use of telescopes, and Astronomy in general.
Our meetings start at 7pm at the United Methodist Church. We’re at the Wesley Building. The address for the UMC is 1515 Fredericks Ave, San Luis Obispo.
General Information on our Meetings and Public Talks:
Our meetings include time for show-and-tell, telescope setup questions, special introductory content for newcomers, socializing time, and in-depth astronomy content for our more experienced members… in short, something for everyone!
Visitors are welcome and encouraged to attend. You do not need to be a CCAS member to attend meetings. Folks are welcome to bring astronomy equipment, books and photos to share with the group. We like to assist in answering questions or help with equipment operation techniques when needed, BUT FIRST, please contact the CCAS to discuss this, as meetings are sometimes already booked solid with topics, or, there may not be anyone at the meeting who is knowledgeable of the item you need help with.
If you have questions about bringing something to a meeting, or wish to ask specific technical questions, or about meetings in general, just let us know.
Remember Jodi Foster in the movie CONTACT? We’ve got the REAL THING!
PUBLIC ASTRONOMY TALK: Are We Alone?
Dr. Jill Tarter
Director, Center for SETI Research
SETI Institute
(This event is over.)
Aliens abound on the movie screens, but in reality we are still trying to find out if we share our universe with other sentient creatures. Intelligence is very difficult to define, and impossible to directly detect over interstellar distances. Therefore, SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, is actually an attempt to detect evidence of another distant technology. If we find such evidence, we will infer the existence of intelligent technologists. For the past 50 years, the SETI community has had a very pragmatic definition of intelligence — the ability to build large transmitters! The majority of SETI searches to date have looked for radio signals coming from distant civilizations. We’ve recently begun looking for very short optical pulses as well. As our own technology matures and innovates, we may try other means of searching, and we will certainly improve upon the searches that we are already conducting.
Guiseppi Cocconi and Philip Morrison ended their 1959 seminal paper on SETI with the statement, “The probability of success is difficult to estimate; but if we never search, the chance of success is zero.” This remains true today! At the SETI Institute we are trying to get the whole world actively involved in the search; in addition to donating their spare CPU cycles, we want to enlist Earthlings’ minds and eyes as pattern recognition tools and, for those who are technically proficient, their skills at signal processing and code development to improve and expand the searching we can do.
Jill Tarter is Director, Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California. Tarter’s work has brought her wide recognition in the scientific community, including two Public Service Medals from NASA. In 2004 Time Magazine named her one of the Time 100 most influential people in the world. Tarter was one of three TED prize-winners in 2009, and was a recipient of the Silicon Valley Women of Influence 2010 Award. In the movie CONTACT, Jodi Foster plays the character of Ellie based upon Jill’s career as a radio astronomer.
http://www.facebook.com/theforumatpoly
http://theforumatpoly.com/talks/jilltarter
This event is sponsored by The Forum, the Cal Poly Astronomical Society, the Central Coast Astronomical Society, and CESaME (the Cal Poly Center for Excellence in Science and Math Education).
“Einstein for Everyone” with Guest Speaker Dr. Robert Piccioni
Our next CCAS meeting is Thursday, October 28th, 2010 from 7-9 PM. Guest Speaker Dr. Robert Piccioni, who is an expert on Einstein and cosmology.
Speaker: Dr. Robert Piccioni (pronounced “Pitch-O-knee”)
Talk Title: “Einstein for Everyone”
Click here to download the flyer. (Feel free to post the info for others to view!)
Abstract: How did a young rebel, who seemed doomed to fail, overcome rejection to become the world’s most famous scientist? In plain English, what do his theories mean? And how does Einstein impact our lives through DVDs, GPS, CCD imaging and digital cameras, computers, and smarter energy?
Biography: Robert graduated from Caltech, has a Ph.D. in high-energy physics from Stanford University, and was on the research faculty of Harvard University. He is an expert on Einstein’s theories and cosmology. Robert ran eight high-tech companies and holds patents in medical equipment, microelectronics, and smart energy. Since “retiring”, Robert’s mission is making science accessible. He is “Teacher of the Year” at the Osher Institute and hosts the online radio show “Guide to the Cosmos”. Robert is the author of two books that won national and international competitions for “Best Popular Science Book of the Year”: Everyone’s Guide to Atoms, Einstein, and the Universe explores the exciting discoveries of modern astronomy, physics, and cosmology; and Can Life Be Merely An Accident? examines the many exacting requirements for life and how extraordinarily improbable it is that they occurred by random chance.
LOCATION: United Methodist Church at 1515 Fredericks in San Luis Obispo. Click here for a map.
CCAS meetings are free, friendly and informal. Members sometimes share photos and information on all kinds of subjects. Occasionally there are special guest speakers and presentations on events or activities in the area. We also partner with Cuesta College faculty and students, so there can be an interesting variation of discussion topics, sometimes very light in content and sometimes moderately heavy in technical information.
Visitors are welcome and encouraged to attend. You do not need to be a CCAS member to attend meetings. Folks are welcome to bring astronomy equipment, books and photos to share with the group. We like to assist in answering questions or help with equipment operation techniques when needed, BUT we must first be aware of the situation. If you wish to bring a telescope or want to discuss the operation of your telescope, FIRST, please contact the CCAS to discuss this, as meetings are sometimes already booked solid with topics, or, there may not be anyone at the meeting who is knowledgeable of the item you need help with.
If you have questions about bringing something to a meeting, or wish to ask specific technical questions, or about meetings in general, just let us know.
Guest Speaker and Movie Night!
Our next CCAS meeting is Thursday, September 23, 2010 from 7-9 PM. Guest Speaker and Movie Night!
We’ll be watching one of Aurora’s favorite astronomy movies (45 min.) as well as being treated to a short Guest Speaker topic. Popcorn and laughs provided – you bring yourself and a friend.
LOCATION: United Methodist Church at 1515 Fredericks in San Luis Obispo. Click here for a map.
CCAS meetings are free, friendly and informal. Members sometimes share photos and information on all kinds of subjects. Occasionally there are special guest speakers and presentations on events or activities in the area. We also partner with Cuesta College faculty and students, so there can be an interesting variation of discussion topics, sometimes very light in content and sometimes moderately heavy in technical information.
Visitors are welcome and encouraged to attend. You do not need to be a CCAS member to attend meetings. Folks are welcome to bring astronomy equipment, books and photos to share with the group. We like to assist in answering questions or help with equipment operation techniques when needed, BUT we must first be aware of the situation. If you wish to bring a telescope or want to discuss the operation of your telescope, FIRST, please contact the CCAS to discuss this, as meetings are sometimes already booked solid with topics, or, there may not be anyone at the meeting who is knowledgeable of the item you need help with.
If you have questions about bringing something to a meeting, or wish to ask specific technical questions, or about meetings in general, just let us know.
