Our July was busy. The Apollo Palooza event on Saturday July 20 commemored the
Lunar Landing’s 50th anniverary. In the afternoon, Angelo Parisi, working with Eduardo Alatorre
and Paloma Rall (junior observatory assistant) opened Taylor to students and parents with
exhibits, planetarium shows and short talks. Demonstrations included “weigh yourself in lunar
gravity” and “how high could you jump on the moon?”. In the evening Friends of Taylor held the
Windows to the Universe program with over 50 enthusiastic visitors, including children.
Angelo delivered, with great enthusiasm, a historic look at the six Apollo missions involving
humans landing on the moon and discussed the Saturn V rocket and Lunar Landing module in
detail. We placed Apollo 11 in context with the great explorations of the 20th century: North
and South Poles, Mt Everest, and our Moon, noting that president Nixon, while greeting the
Astronauts (Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins) in person in the South Pacific Ocean, proclaimed it
the greatest achievement in human history. After the lecture, I, Tom Schleif and Eduardo Alatorre
shared telescopic views of Saturn and Jupiters with visitors and we observed an Int’l Space
Station fyover at 9:42. Photos from the afternoon event appear below.
Perseid Meteor time again . . . we’re seeing some already. Good to watch the Perseids in the
early August days before moonlight obscures weak meteors. Just after sunset you may see some
“earth grazers” looking NorthEast. Moon will be 3 days shy of full at meteor peak on night of
August 12. Sadly, the Perseid Meteor shower will be less evident this year because the moon is
nearly full — but it’s possible we’ll see some early “earth-grazer” meteors observable.
August 12th is celebrated for more than the Perseids. The astronomer who taught us we are all
made of stardust celebrates her 100th birthday on August 12, 2019.
Happy Birthday, Margaret Burbidge! To learn more about this amazing women, check out Sky
Happy Birthday, Margaret Burbidge! To learn more about this amazing women, check out Sky
& telescope at: happy-birthday-margaret-burbidge
Don’t forget our upcoming event on August 24, Saturday: Clear Lake State Park — Campfire
Program —
Angelo Parisi and his Big Bang Band Travelling Star Show will be featured at our second
appearance at the CLSP Campfire program. The public is invited to attend free of charge.
We’ll have our telescopes there for observing later.
We hope to see you at one or all of our Windows to the Universe presentations.
Sincerely,
Bill Haddon, President, Friends of Taylor Observatory-Norton Planetarium
Website: www.friendsoftaylor.org
FB: “Friends of Taylor Observatory” and “Dark Skies – Lake County, CA”