By Joan Mieritz | San Juan Stargazers
The San Juan Stargazers are starting to gear up for a full and exciting summer at Chimney Rock National Monument. We will begin telescope training this month.
There are Star Parties scheduled for Fridays, March 4, 11, 25 and April 1. These are for members only, which is why there is this opportunity to join the club.
Membership costs $25 each year for an individual, couple or family. This includes membership to our local club and to the National Astronomical League with a subscription to Reflector, the quarterly magazine that adds much learning for our club.
If you want to join, call (303) 995-2888 and leave a message with your name, phone number and some information about yourself. You will receive a call back about joining.
This is a brief summary of plans for the summer of 2022. There will be five Night Sky Programs called Stars and Galaxies, one each month, taking place close to the time of having no visible moon so we can see more deep-sky objects such as star clusters, nebula and, the most interesting, other galaxies. There will also be four Night Sky Programs titled Our Solar System which are timed to have great views of the moon and planets. We will also have one night, on Aug. 12, to view the Perseid meteor shower.
To make sure club members are well prepared to use their telescopes, there also will be seven practice sessions during the summer, some with guest astronomer teachers.
The wild card for this summer will be whether or not we will be using our telescopes with the general public. This will depend on the state of COVID-19 each date. We will determine the safety each time we have a program. We will always provide the program, but telescope use will be in question. The difficulty is that the virus can be passed on the eye-piece, which can endanger members and guests using the scope.
The San Juan Stargazers Club is part of the National Astronomical League, celebrating its 75th year of service and includes over 250 clubs from all over the U.S. Our local group also has a website, www.sanjuanstargazers.org. Check it out.
We welcome everyone to learn more about our amazing universe. We hope to see you as a member or guest to our programs.
