Upcoming Events
The 2012 Public Observing Dates wil be available soon. The first public event will be held in March.
CAA Public Observing Dates
A young observer peers through the CAA's vintage Celestron 16 telescope.
At least 12 Saturday dates each year the CAA hosts a Public Observing event featuring a guest speaker followed—weather permitting—by an evening of celestial viewing. During viewing hours, society members will be available to answer questions and provide everyone with an opportunity to look through the Society's telescopes and those of our members.
Public observing events are held in the Eastern Iowa Observatory and Learning Center at the Palisades-Dows Observatory and Preserve through a generous agreement with the Linn County Conservation Department. For directions, please visit our maps page or download a pdf version (276 kB.)
The Cedar Amateur Astronomers, Inc. is a participating member of NASA's Night Sky Network.
The 2011 Public Event Schedule
The list of presentation topics and speakers will be updated as it becomes available.
March 5, 7:30 p.m.
What's in a Name? How Stars and Other Heavenly Objects Get Their Names
Presenter: Brent Studer, Adjunct Professor, Kirkwood Community College and CAA member
Every beginning astronomer must confront a bewildering collection of names and numbers
assigned to celestial objects. Although they seem designed to confuse the uninitiated,
there is method to all the madness. Tonight we'll learn how names were historically
assigned and what modern conventions astronomers use to identify and catalog the heavens. The
lecture will be followed by telescope viewing, weather permitting.
April 2, 7:30 p.m.
Iowa’s Manson Impact Crater
Presenter: Dr. Ray Anderson, Senior Research Geologist, Iowa Geological & Water Survey
The bedrock beneath Manson, Iowa, has been known as a region of unusual geology since
1912 when samples collected during the drilling of a town well at Manson proved to be
unlike other rocks in the area. The nature of the anomalous geology remained a mystery
for decades. In 1966, evidence was discovered proving the Manson Structure was caused
by an ancient meteor…a huge meteor! Manson crater expert Ray Anderson will discuss
the interesting geological history, the stories of discovery, and the unfolding body
of knowledge regarding the Manson crater and its impact on the region. The lecture will
be followed by telescope viewing, weather permitting.
April 9, 8 p.m.
The Moon is Splendor
Presenter: Doug Slauson, Cedar Amateur Astronomers/NASA Night Sky Network Coordinator
The Moon has inspired us poetically, romantically, artistically and scientifically.
Observations of the moon spurred the scientific revolution 400 years ago by showing
us—through Galileo’s handmade telescope—that the Moon is another world with
mountains, valleys, craters, plains, and “seas”, and that the Sun casts changing
shadows of the lunar features. His discoveries inspired other Renaissance astronomers
and their accumulated work showed the universe is not Earth-centered but that the
Moon and planets move around the Sun. We will examine the Moon’s path around the
earth, the Moon’s phases, its features and, weather-permitting, enjoy telescopic
views. If we’re lucky we’ll actually see the Moon cover up a star tonight as the
moon moves slowly in the sky.
May 7, 8:30 p.m.
What's Going on Up There?
Presenter: Professor Randall McEntaffer, The University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy
Professor McEntaffer plans on uncovering all the mysteries of the universe! Well,
not quite, but he will give the audience a better understanding of the physical
processes that occur in the objects that will be observed later in the night. These
objects range from planets to nebulae to star clusters of various sizes to galaxies
and more. The science of astronomy can obtain a surprising amount of information
on these sources by capturing the mere trickle of light coming to us from as much
as millions of light years away. Professor McEntaffer will discuss the current
state of knowledge on these objects, which will hopefully provide some context
for the night's observations. The lecture will be followed by telescope viewing,
weather permitting.
June 4, 9 p.m.
The Next Decade of Astronomical Discovery: What are the
Big Questions?
Presenter: Professor Cornelia Lang, The University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy
The National Academy of Sciences relies on the professional astronomical
community to identify and prioritize the most cutting-edge research questions. Once
every decade a group of scientists puts together a comprehensive survey that
prioritizes research topics and the associated ground-based and space-based
observing facilities. Funding agencies such as NASA and the National Science
Foundation (NSF) use these recommendations to help guide their funding decisions
over the next decade. Professor Cornelia Lang was a member of the team of scientists
who put the survey together. She will discuss the survey conclusions and report
on the next big questions to be answered in astronomy! In addition, she will give
some personal insight on what it was like to be part of this important process. The
lecture will be followed by telescope viewing, weather permitting.
July 2, 9 p.m.
Discovering Planets around Other Stars
Presenter: Professor Steven Spangler, The University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy
The Kepler Mission, launched March 2009, is specifically designed to survey
a portion of our region of the Milky Way galaxy to discover dozens of Earth-size
planets in or near the habitable zone and determine how many of the billions of
stars in our galaxy have such planets. Professor Spangler will discuss the Kepler
mission’s search for habitable planets, the search area, mission specifics, and
Kepler’s latest planetary findings. The lecture will be followed by telescope
viewing, weather permitting. The viewing period after the talk will include some
stars known to have planets.
July 24, 8:30 p.m.
SETI and the Allen Telescope Array
Presenter: Jon Richards, The SETI Institute
People have wondered about life beyond Earth and are
naturally drawn to what SETI has to say about the search for life in the Universe. Jon will give a brief history and introduction to SETI research, describe what the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) and why it is important, how radio astronomy and how is it performed at the ATA, and how we search for extra terrestrial signals. He will also talk how the ATA can track space junk and satellites and describe the public outreach program setiQuest, including how we can help. Pictures of the ATA as well as interesting astronomy pictures many people have never seen will be shown. Read more at the SETIQuest wiki.
July 30, 8:30 p.m.
The Lives of Stars
Presenter: Professor Kara Beauchamp, Cornell College Department of Physics
All stars are born, progress through life stages, and eventually die. Although the
Sun and the rest of the stars seem like a permanent part of our universe, their
lifetimes are finite. The Sun has been burning brightly for about 5 billion
years, and will do so for about another 5 billion years. This talk will address
the conditions for star formation, the stages of a star’s life, and the ways
stars’ lives end. The stages of stars’ lives will be illustrated with images
from the Hubble Space Telescope and other telescopes. The lecture will be
followed by telescope viewing, weather permitting.
August 13, 3 – 6 p.m.
The Sun
Presenter: Carl Bracken, Executive Committe Member, The Cedar Amateur Astronomers
Carl will explore the latest solar observing techniques and mission updates. The
presentation will show up-to-date information about the various regular solar
observing operations that take place everyday—from ground based sites and orbiting
satellites dedicated to solar observing—and how that information is used to
relate back to everyday life on the surface and for ISS crews in orbit. We will
also showcase modern user-friendly solar telescopes and safe observing practices. Weather
permitting, direct solar observation will follow the presentation on the grounds
of the EIOLC. Sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, and properly filtered telescopes are required!
August 27, 8 p.m.
Edwin Hubble and the Big Bang
Presenter: Professor Phil Kaaret, The University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy
Edwin Hubble, a mid-westerner born in Missouri and raised in Illinois, made the first measurements
of the distances to galaxies. Hubble found that galaxies are moving away from us with more
distant galaxies moving away faster. This was the first scientific evidence that the universe
began at a particular instant in time, what we now called the big bang. This talk will focus on
Hubble, his discovery, and its implications. The talk will be followed by telescope
viewing, weather permitting.
September 24, 7:30 p.m.
Juno: A Mission to Jupiter
Presenter: Dr. William S. Kurth, Research Scientist, The University
of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy
Juno is a mission scheduled to be launched
to Jupiter in August 2011. Its primary objective is to gather information
on the amount of water in Jupiter’s atmosphere and to understand the interior
structure of the planet in order to understand its origin. As the largest planet
in the solar system, by far, Jupiter’s history is fundamental to understanding
the origin of the solar system and, in particular, that of Earth. Another
fundamental objective of Juno is to explore Jupiter’s polar magnetosphere
and to make the first in situ measurements of the processes leading to Jupiter’s auroras.
The University of Iowa has developed a radio and plasma wave receiver called Waves as one of several instruments to fly on Juno. Its primary purpose is to study waves in the plasmas in Jupiter’s polar regions to understand the roles they play in the generation of the auroras and to study the source of Jupiter’s intense radio emissions.
Assuming a successful launch in August, Juno will spend 5 years in route to Jupiter where it will enter orbit over the planet’s poles in 2016. The prime mission consists of more than 30 orbits in the space of about 1 Earth year. Weather permitting, observing through CAA telescopes will follow the presentation.
October 22, 7:30 pm.
Autumn Celestial Wonders
Presenter: Professor Randall McEntaffer, The University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy
Professor McEntaffer will examine a variety of celestial objects and he will give the audience
a better understanding of the physical processes that occur in the objects that will be observed
later in the night. These objects range from planets to nebulae to star clusters of various
sizes to galaxies and more. The science of astronomy can obtain a surprising amount of information
on these sources by capturing the mere trickle of light coming to us from as much as millions
of light years away. Professor McEntaffer will discuss the current state of knowledge on these
objects, which will hopefully provide some context for the night's observations. Weather permitting, observing through CAA telescopes will follow the presentation.
November 19, 7:30 p.m.
The Violent Universe
Presenter: Dr. Daniel Gall, The University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy
A summary of some of the most exciting high energy objects that we
have looked at lately and still don't fully understand: the most violent places in the
universe, extreme energy from binary black hole/neutron star systems, the remnants from supernova
explosions, a star getting eaten by a supermassive black hole, a nova in a nearby star system,
unknown bright transient gamma-ray sources in our galaxy. Weather permitting, observing through CAA telescopes will follow the presentation.
2012 NCRAL Convention
Plan on attending the Astronomical League's North Central Region convention in 2012. Check this page for more information as it becomes available.
