At the San Juan Stargazers’ Astronomy Club monthly meeting — which was postponed to Thursday, Jan. 18 — our speaker will be Barbara Sanborn. She will be sharing her three most exciting eclipses.
The Stargazers postponed their monthly educational meeting due to bad weather. It will be held Thursday, Jan. 18, at the Community United Methodist Church at 434 Lewis St. You can use the parking lot and enter at the side door right off the parking area. (We leave the front doors locked.)
There is a social hour starting at 6 p.m. with coffee/tea and treats. You can bring something to share if you would like.
2024 Deep Space Mysteries Calendars, “Tours of the Night Sky” booklets and additional sheets for those who already have the notebook will all be available.
There also is a very important letter to the Dark Sky International Association supporting Chimney Rock to be designated an Official Dark Sky Area. Instead of just our club president’s signature, we would like every Stargazer to add their name showing their personal support.
At 7 p.m. the meeting will begin. It will be available on Zoom for members. At 7:10 p.m., Sanborn, who is a club member, will give her exciting presentation, which includes many photos.
She said that it is more like a travel log with scientific information about eclipses. She will talk about an eclipse she observed in Chile, South America; one that she saw from a ship on the Pacific Ocean; and the eclipse from 2006, seen in Libya, where Muammar Gaddafi added much political excitement and intrigue.
There will be an important eclipse this year on April 8. It will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S. it will be visible from Texas to Maine.
The next total solar eclipse that will be visible over North America will not happen until 2045. This year might be an important one for you to catch if you want to see totality.
The eclipse will be visible in Pagosa as an approximate 64 percent partial eclipse, which should still be exciting and will require special glasses for you to safely view.
After the presentation, Dena Lateraz will share packages of needed telescope parts and accessories gifted by club members from her wish list.
This January and February, our club will be spending time picking dates, times and activities for our summer night sky programs at Chimney Rock and other astronomy events to be presented for the public right here in Pagosa Springs.
We would like all members to participate in at least one event, and hopefully many members will want to attend many events. Make sure you add your name to the sign-up sheets before you leave. We need your commitment now to make better plans.
If you would like to join the San Juan Stargazers and the National Astronomical League of which you automatically become a member, you will also get an excellent astronomy magazine for the annual membership of only $25 per family. You can join the club at any of our events or you can join using PayPal at sanjuanstargazers.org. Check out our constantly improving website with new information and fabulous photos.
This month’s program should be excellent and exciting. Everyone is welcome to join us to learn more about the amazing universe that we all are part of.
