Date: July 15, 2009
Title: Your Local Astronomy Club
Podcaster: Ed Sunder
Organization: Flintstone Stargazing http://flintstonestargazing.com
Description: A great way to learn about the night sky is from others. One of the best ways to get to know other amateur astronomers is through local astronomy clubs.
Bio: Ed has been observing since he first looked through his telescope and saw Jupiter and her moons in June, 2007. Since then he’s observed and imaged the entire Messier catalog and is outside looking at the stars from his driveway pretty much every clear night.
Today’s sponsor: This episode of “365 Days of Astronomy” is sponsored by Loch Ness Productions, a unique multimedia production company specializing in cosmically creative content and space music for planetarium and fulldome theaters worldwide. Loch Ness Productions also works with exhibit designers, observatories, science institutions and publishers to bring a love of astronomy, Earth science, and space science to audiences everywhere. On the web at LochNessProductions.com
Transcript:
Hi, I’m Ed Sunder and I’m an amateur astronomer in Flintstone, Georgia. I’ve been doing astronomy for the past two years and recording my journey at my blog, flinstonestargazing.com.
I’d like to welcome you to the July 15th edition of the 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast. Today’s podcast is titled, “Astronomy Clubs.”
When I got my first telescope, I spent a huge time on the Internet and at the eyepiece trying to figure out how to do astronomy – how my telescope worked, how to view things, how to take images and both my time spent online as well as my time viewing, paid dividends. But what I wish I would have done sooner was to tap into my local astronomy club. It was almost a year after I got serious about astronomy before I attended my first astronomy club meeting. My local club, the Barnard Astronomical Society (http://barnardstar.org) located in Chattanooga, TN, meets every month and the first meeting I attended was on Valentine’s Day of 2008. Now I’m not sure what it says of our club that no one thought to reschedule the meeting or what it says bout the fact that I chose to attend that night, but it was an interesting meeting, discussing recent discoveries on Saturn’s moon Titan. (I would like to add that I did get permission from my wife before I went) I signed up and paid my dues that night.
Ever since, the Barnard Astronomical Society has been a wonderful source of knowledge and encouragement to me as I seek to learn about and understand the night sky. By talking with other amateur astronomers, I’m able to draw upon their wisdom and experiences. By attending star parties, I have the chance to share what I do and to learn what others are doing. I also get the chance to try out sweet equipment that I don’t have. In my club, there are folks with big 16 inch Dobs, 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrains, large refractors, homemade astrographs, a huge selection of eyepieces and accessories as well as a number of members who have their own radio telescopes. By trying out other people’s equipment, I can understand the advantages and limitations of my own and figure out where I want to head, equipment-wise.
For an amateur like me, participating in my local club has provided me with encouragement, knowledge, camaraderie and inspiration and has helped fuel my interest in astronomy. For those of you out there how have not yet gotten involved with a local club, I would heartily encourage you to do so. The benefits are enormous and the cost is generally very low. My local club’s dues are $15 per year.
These days, fewer Americans participate in local organizations and clubs than previous generations did. There are many reasons for this and I don’t really want to get into those here. What I’d like to suggest, though, is that getting involved in your local astronomy club is one way to reverse this trend. You’ll find that your participation in a club and involvement in their programs will bring you joy and fulfillment in ways you may not expect. It’s a rewarding experience that I’d like to encourage everyone to take part in.
This has been Ed Sunder wishing you clear skies and encouraging you to find and join your local astronomy club.
End of podcast:
365 Days of Astronomy
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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the New Media Working Group of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. Audio post-production by Preston Gibson. Bandwidth donated by libsyn.com and wizzard media. Web design by Clockwork Active Media Systems. You may reproduce and distribute this audio for non-commercial purposes. Please consider supporting the podcast with a few dollars (or Euros!). Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org. Until tomorrow…goodbye.