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Lincoln Hills Astronomy Group
 
  2012 Meeting Journal

December 9		Desert Party at Kilaga Springs Lodge
December 5	GM	"Exploring the Planets - an Update"  by Anthony Oreglia Anthony  presented an update of the presentation he gave in October, 2010, with a focus on the current nine planetary missions, and an emphasis on Messenger and the Mars Science laboratory (CURIOSITY).
November 19	CIG	Video Lecture "Black Holes Explained" Lecture 06 - Feasting Supermassive Black Holes Lecture Discussion and Q & A Current Topics in Cosmology - Article Review/Discussion presented by Don Wilson Alternate Views of Cosmology
November 7	GM	"What's Out There Beyond Neptune?  -- The Outer Solar System" by Tom Eason Ron Olson substituted for Tom Eason. Almost everybody understands the basic layout of the planets in our solar system. But that general knowledge stops at Neptune or maybe Pluto, the recently “demoted” farthest planet. But our solar system extends far beyond there. Ron's presentation explained what’s out there and why. He described the three general groupings of those distant bodies; the Kuiper Belt, the Scattered Disc, and the Oort Cloud, and also a few "oddballs" that don’t fit any of the groups.
October 18		Cameron Park Observatory Trip Special private viewing for LHAG at the Cameron Park Community Observatory.
October 15	CIG	Video Lecture "Black Holes Explained" Lecture 05 - Monster of the Milky Way and Other Galaxies
October 11		Exploring the Night Sky Class - Night #1 Learn how to locate and identify objects in the night sky using your naked eye, binoculars, and small telescopes.  Contact Ron Olson (408-1435)   rolson@starstream.net
October 3	GM	"Big Bang - The Greatest Show on Earth" by Don Wilson A reality Check of over 2,300 years of Western Cosmology development, the science (or lack thereof) involved, interpreters and various personality wars that had led to the present Big Bang Model and beyond.
September 17	CIG	Video Lecture "Black Holes Explained" Lecture 04 - Searching for Stellar Mass Black Holes
November 19	CIG
September 5	GM	"Searching for Earth's Twin: NASA's Kepler Mission" by Edna DeVore  Deputy CEO and the Director of Education and Public Outreach at the SETI Institute, in Mountain View, CA. Is Earth unique in the universe? How many Earth-size planets exist? Edna described NASA’s Kepler Mission, which seeks to answer these questions by searching for Earth-size planets orbiting in the habitable zone of Sun-size stars.
August 27		Observing the Moon, Planets, and Bright Stars  Rossi Lane Observing Session
August 20	CIG	Video Lecture "Black Holes Explained" Lecture 03 - Gamma Ray Bursts - The Birth of Black Holes
August		"Cosmic Affects" Presentation and Planetarium Show at Sierra College by Prof Dick Marasso Dick's presentation explored various astronomical phenomena and how they 'affect' the Earth and the human condition. Examples include "Did the Moon help sink the Titanic?", sunspots, meteors and music. His presentation included a planetarium show of the summer night sky.
June		CIG  Video Lecture "Black Holes Explained" Lecture 02 - The Violent Death of Massive Stars
June 7		Community Forum - "The Colors of the Night Sky" by Ken Crawford - Orchard Creek Lodge - 7 PM Ken Crawford is an internationally known astrophotographer who images the sky from his Rancho Del Sol Observatory in Camino. Ken is also the Chief Docent for the Cameron Park Rotary Community Observatory in Placerville. Ken's images have been featured in numerous magazines, books, websites, movies, and public displays, including NASA's "Astronomy Picture of the Day." His presentation featured a colorful tour of our universe using his award winning images. Ken also demonstrated how amateurs are contributing to science and research with images of colliding galaxies that reveal their cannibalistic ways.
June 5	GM	"Venus Transit Viewing Event"  Behind Orchard Creek Lodge  - 3 PM till sunset View the planet Venus as it passes in front of the Sun. Telescopes with solar filters were be provided to view this event which will not occur again until 2117.  (Caution: Never look directly at the sun with your eyes or a telescope without adequate eye protection such as a solar filter).
May	CIG	Video Lecture "Black Holes Explained" Lecture 01 - A General Introduction to Black Holes
May	GM	Fatal Attraction" Everything You Wanted to know about Gravity, But Were Afraid to Ask" by Morey Lewis From Galileo to Einstein, and our Solar System to stars, galaxies and the universe, Morey explained the evolution of the theory of gravity, and its effects on our own solar system to the universe beyond C.
April	CIG	Video Lecture Lecture 36 - A Comprehensive Universe?
April	GM	"The Search for Finding Earth-like Planets - Exoplanet Update" by Dave Wood Dave reviewed the various techniques used to search for exoplanets. He also showed recent results, with a focus on the observations from the Kepler Mission, and discussed the criteria for "Earth-like" planets.
March	CIG	Video Lecture Lecture 35 - What's Next for Cosmology?
March	GM	"Black Holes, Black Stars, and Naked Singularities - When gravity rules, weird things happen" by Tom Eason Black holes are curiosities of the first order. Just about everybody knows a little bit about them. “Once something goes in, it will never come out.” There is a lot more about them that is interesting beyond just this central property. Tom explained how and where they are born, how they are structured, how they grow (and sometimes shrink).  He discussed Black Stars, which are “would be” black holes that didn’t quite make the grade, and Naked Singularities. They are related to black holes, and may be real or just scientific fancy, but either way they stretch one’s imagination.
February	CIG	Video Lecture Lecture 34 - Fine Tuning the Anthropic Argument Lecture Discussion Q & A
February	GM	"Constellations Through Time" by John Neil John explained the evolution of Constellations through time and how the current 88 "official" Constellations became the modern day standard.
January	CIG	Futrure Plans Discussed
January 4	GM	"M&M's from the Sky" by Nina Mazzo Nina described Meteoroids and Meteorites - their composition, where are they found, sources and types and impacts and collisions. Attendees were able touch and feel some unique samples provided by Carol and Al Witten.