January 11, 2024 postponed to January 18, 2024 MEETING

Pagosa Springs Colorado

January 11, 2024 postponed to January 18, 2024 MEETING

Solar Eclipse by Larry Luffel

At the San Juan Stargazers’ Astronomy Club Monthly Meeting on Thursday, January 11, 2024, our speaker will be Barbara Sanborn, an “Around the World Eclipse Chaser”, sharing her 3 most exciting Eclipses

The Stargazers will hold their monthly educational meeting on Thursday, January 11th at the Community United Methodist Church on 434 Lewis Street.  You can use the parking lot & enter at the side door right off the parking area. (We leave the front doors locked.)

There is a social hour starting at 6PM with coffee/tea and treats. (You can bring something to share if you would like. We may have lots of Xmas Fruitcake.)   2024 Deep Space Mysteries Calendars, Tours of the Night Sky Booklets & Additional Sheets for those already having the Notebook will ALL be available.  There also will be a very important letter to the Dark Sky International Association supporting Chimney Rock to be designated an Official Dark Sky Area. Instead of just my signature, I would like every Stargazer to add their name showing their personal support.  Please get here early enough to gather all your “goodies” & sign your name so our program can start on time.

At 7PM the meeting will begin.  It will be available on Zoom for members and soon also for the public.  At 7:10 Barbara Sanborn who is a club member will give her exciting power point presentation which includes many photos.  She said that it is more like a Travel Log with scientific information about eclipses.  She will talk about an eclipse she observed in Chile, South America, one that she saw from a ship on the Pacific Ocean and the eclipse from 2006, seen in Libya, where Muammar Gaddafi added much political excitement & intrigue.

There will be an important eclipse this year on April 8. It will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the U.S. & Canada.  In the U.S. it will be visible from Texas to Maine. The next total solar eclipse that will be visible over North America will not happen until 2045.  This year might be an important one for you to catch if you want to see totality.  In the interest of scientific accuracy  & full disclosure, the eclipse will be visible in Pagosa as an approximate 64% partial eclipse which should still be exciting AND will require special glasses for you to safely view. (Eclipse glasses are free at the Library due to a special grant they received.)

After Barbara’s presentation, Dena Lateraz will gleefully open the wrapped packages of needed telescope parts & accessories gifted by club members from her wish-list.

This January and February our club will be spending time picking dates, times & activities for our Summer Night Sky programs at Chimney Rock and other astronomy events to be presented for the public right here in Pagosa Springs. We would like all members to participate so that everyone will have at least one event that you helped plan & will take part in.    Of course, you can help with more than one event.  Reality is that we will not be able to hold events that we do not have enough volunteers to cover.  Make sure you add your name to the sign-up sheets before you leave. We need your commitment now to make better plans.

If you would like to join the San Juan Stargazers you will also receive Reflector Magazine which is the publication of the National Astronomical League of which you automatically become a member.  To join both groups & get an excellent astronomy magazine, annual membership is only$25/ family. You can join the club at any of our events or now you can join using Paypal on our website: sanjuanstargazers.org.  Check out our constantly improving website with new information & fabulous photos.

This month’s program should be well-worth attending.  Feel warmly welcome to join us to learn more about the amazing Universe that we all are part of. 

SECOND ARTICLE FOR JANUARY 2024 MEETING

At the San Juan Stargazers’ Astronomy Club Monthly Meeting which was postponed to Thursday, January 18, 2024, our speaker will be Barbara Sanborn, sharing her 3 most exciting Eclipses

The Stargazers postponed their monthly educational meeting due to bad weather to Thursday, January 18th at the Community United Methodist Church on 434 Lewis Street.  You can use the parking lot & enter at the side door right off the parking area. (We leave the front doors locked.)

There is a social hour starting at 6PM with coffee/tea and treats. (You can bring something to share if you would like.)   2024 Deep Space Mysteries Calendars, Tours of the Night Sky Booklets & Additional Sheets for those already having the Notebook will ALL be available.  There also is a very important letter to the Dark Sky International Association supporting Chimney Rock to be designated an Official Dark Sky Area. Instead of just our Club President’s signature, we would like every Stargazer to add their name showing their personal support.  

At 7PM the meeting begins.  It will be available on Zoom for members.  At 7:10 Barbara Sanborn who is a club member will give her exciting power point presentation which includes many photos.  She said that it is more like a Travel Log with scientific information about eclipses.  She will talk about an eclipse she observed in Chile, South America, one that she saw from a ship on the Pacific Ocean and the eclipse from 2006, seen in Libya, where Muammar Gaddafi added much political excitement & intrigue.

There will be an important eclipse this year on April 8. It will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the U.S. & Canada.  In the U.S. it will be visible from Texas to Maine. The next total solar eclipse that will be visible over North America will not happen until 2045.  This year might be an important one for you to catch if you want to see totality. The eclipse will be visible in Pagosa as an approximate 64% partial eclipse which should still be exciting AND will require special glasses for you to safely view. (Eclipse glasses are free at the Library due to a special grant they received & our club has purchased some also.)

After Barbara’s presentation, Dena Lateraz will share packages of needed telescope parts & accessories gifted by club members from her wish-list.

This January and February our club will be spending time picking dates, times & activities for our Summer Night Sky programs at Chimney Rock and other astronomy events to be presented for the public right here in Pagosa Springs. We would like all members to participate in at least one event, & hopefully many members will want to attend many events.  Make sure you add your name to the sign-up sheets before you leave. We need your commitment now to make better plans.

If you would like to join the San Juan Stargazers & the National Astronomical League of which you automatically become a member, you will also get an excellent astronomy magazine for the annual membership of only$25/ family. You can join the club at any of our events or you can join using Paypal on our website: sanjuanstargazers.org.  Check out our constantly improving website with new information & fabulous photos.

This month’s program should be excellent & exciting.  Feel welcome to join us to learn more about the amazing Universe that we all are part of.