On March 20th, our next meeting night the presentation will be given by John Martinez, NASA Solar System Ambassador. John’s presentation will be on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Europa is believed to have liquid water beneath its frozen crust. NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is set to launch in 2024 to determine if Europa has conditions suitable for life.
In other news things are clipping along with the land where our SPMOS Observatory sits being up for sale. This is a 41 acre site which is now on the market. It looks like there is strong interest from a buyer who apparently wants to purchase all of the land but is open to a continuing agreement with the club at least until he decides to build on the property which may not be for several years. To a degree all is speculation at this point. We may have more information by our meeting night this coming Wednesday at the East Bank Regional Library at 7 pm in the Napoleon Room.
Things are beginning to crank up with several events planned for the near future.
On March 30th we have the opportunity to partner with the Audubon Nature Center in New Orleans East (where the planetarium is) for their program "Spring into Action" from 10 am to 2 pm. There are water fountains on site, and a food truck selling sno-balls and pasta will be present as well. We'll have a table, two chairs, an open wifi network and basic 8.5x11 table signage for each organization. Please see below if you'll need different/additional accommodations.
John Martinez and I will be there. Are there any other PAS members interested in helping out? I am sure we will get questions about the eclipse and we may have a solar telescope set up. We will also heavily promote the club.
More about this at the meeting this coming Wednesday March 20th.
Of course the total solar eclipse on Monday April 8th rapidly approaches and we hope that any in the club that are planning to travel to totality have made their plans.
Jump 3 weeks ahead and you will find that the Deep South Spring Scrimmage will get under way at the White Horse Christian Retreat Center on Wednesday, May 1st. It runs for 5 nights and there is no obligation to be there for the whole time. More about this at the meeting too.
Finally, 8 of us are traveling out to the Prude Ranch for the June 1st start of the Wes-Tex Star Party. It runs a week and due to the lack of lights, the low humidity and high altitude - the skies are spectacular.
We will have lots to talk about and show over the coming months!
Barry Simon, President
Pontchartrain Astronomy Society