Every year the Stargazers take part in the FREE TO THE PUBLIC  Chimney Rock activity called Life at Chimney Rock which is  Sat. July 20 & Sun. July 21,  from 10 AM to 4 PM. The Stargazers have a booth  about Astronomy among  the many other activities such as yucca pounding, atlatl throwing, pottery making, etc. that the ancient people did.  We will talk about the coming Lunar Standstill in 2022 and we have more than a dozen astronomy activities for all ages from coloring for the youngest to an adult word search and lots of educational & fun things in between.   Some of the pottery that is for sale, made  by Native Americans with ancestors at C.R., is astronomy related.  It is very cleverly created & the prices are reasonable.  The Indian Tacos & fry bread are ”out of this world.” It is an enjoyable experience that you & your children or grandchildren will not want to miss. There also are extra tours to the ruins (regular price).

On Thursday. July 25, we will not have the usual program at our  meeting.   At 6:00 PM, we will have a Telescope Clinic to help people figure out their telescopes.  Call 970-335-8286 to reserve a telescope expert to help you.      At 7PM, instead of a program, there will be hands-on lessons on constellations & Messier Objects.  We will use our new photo flash cards and go over the recent protocol for using a telescope.  The goal is that you will know & be able to identify more constellations & Messier Objects including galaxies, star clusters, open & globular & nebula of various types. It will be a valuable learning  session developed by Joan Mieritz, who is a master teacher of easy & fun learning.   You will feel really smart after this session.

I’m not expecting that many people will come to the regular meeting on Thursday night.  If you have to make a choice between coming on Thursday or Friday, please come on Friday.  We will be having some big Star Parties & can use all the help we can get.

We have Star Parties on Friday, July 26, Stars & Galaxies & Friday, August 9, Our Solar System.   WE NEED  MORE  TELESCOPES  AT CHIMNEY ROCK.   If you own a telescope & bring it to share, you and a guest do not need to pay to get into the Star Party  and we will provide training and help.

On Thursday, August 8^th, we will have a SPECIAL JOINT MEETING WITH THE CHIMNEY ROCK INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION . We will meet at the Springs Hotel at 6PM for delicious  hors d’oeuvres.  Then at 7PM, a very special guest, Dr. Erica Ellingson, Professor of Astrophysical and Planetary Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder will speak. Her research interests include galaxies, dark matter and observational cosmology and she is fascinated with all aspects of how humans connect with the sky and understand the cosmos.  Her recent projects include developing public programs on the astronomy of the Ancestral Puebloans in collaboration with Chaco Cultural National Park and Chimney Rock National Monument.  She has been at C.R. numerous times doing research & will share some of her findings.

Her talk should interest the general Pagosa community, C.R. volunteers and Astronomy people. I want to encourage  EVERY ONE TO ATTEND.  CRIA members make treats to share at a 6pm snack potluck, but the  San Juan Stargazers CLUB will buy special food so our members do not need to prepare something,  JUST SHOW UP.  It should be very valuable and it is special fun when we have joint meetings with CRIA and see how many people are involved with Chimney Rock National Monument.      

We invite people who want to learn more about our amazing Universe to all our events.