Tippy will greet you at 3pm on Monday, Feb 20th at the Firepit! (Weather Permitting)
On Wednesday at 12:30pm Tippy will present an encore presentation of "Amateur Astronomers - Frustrations & Rewards"
Tippy D'Auria is the founder of the Winter Star Party which is sponsored by the Southern Cross Astronomical Society, and he has been the Chairman of that star party for thirteen of its twenty-four years. Tippy is also a founding board member of Astronomy Outreach network and an advisor for the Meade 4M Community.
In January 2001, Tippy received recognition for his contributions to amateur astronomy, as he was honored by the International Astronomical Union (www.iau.org), when an asteroid was given the name "11378 DAuria" in his honor. That same year, Tippy led an expedition to the volcanoes of Costa Rica, to film a National Geographic documentary called Volcano Hunters.
Tippy joined an elite group of some of the world's best planetary astronomers in 2001 on a mission to record a predicted flash on the Mars in a region called Edom.
In August 2007, Tippy received the 2007 Astronomical League Award for his many contributions to the Astronomical Community.
In February 2008, Tippy received an Astronomy Outreach Award – in recognition for his contributions in outreach and public education in Astronomy.
In October 2009, Tippy was awarded the Astronomical League’s Outreach Award “Honorary Lifetime Master Award” for his significant contributions to Astronomy outreach.
He is a noted astrophotographer who uses cold camera photography for his work and has taught Creative Photography at the college level. Tippy is a writer and an international lecturer as well as an avid volcano hunter. He has contributed to the section on darkroom techniques for the book Introduction to Observing and Photographing the Solar System as well as co-authoring with Vic Menard, the definite book on telescope collimation, titled Perspectives on Collimation - Principles and Procedures.
Taimur (Tim) Khan, P.E. – Vice President, Southern Cross Astronomical Society / Winter Star Party Director & WSP Speaker Coordinator
Mr. Khan was born and raised in South Florida and has had a passion for astronomy since first being introduce to a telescope in his mid teens. His educational background includes a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Miami. He is a licensed Structural Engineer in the State of Florida and is an active member in the following professional organizations: Structural Engineering Certification Board, Florida Structural Engineer’s Association, Structural Engineer Institute, American Society of Civil Engineers and American Concrete Institute. Mr. Khan is currently vice president of a family owned engineering firm in Miami, Florida, where he has specialized in structural engineering ranging from large high-rise construction and large scale custom homes, commercial projects, Schools, and tract homes. Mr. Khan carries his astronomy knowledge into his professional career by advocating proper lighting techniques to his clients. In addition, Mr. Khan has designed and constructed a hurricane resistant roll off roof observatory to resist both hurricanes and tornadic winds.
During his stay at University of Miami in the mid 90’s, Mr. Khan became President of the University of Miami Astronomy Club as well as an active member of the Southern Cross Astronomical Society. Mr. Khan has been serving as an officer and board member of Southern Cross for several years, and has been appointed director of the prestigious annual Winter Star Party, held annually in the Florida Keys during February.
Currently, Mr. Khan enjoys heading out to dark skies to observe and photograph the night sky. He has been an active astro-photographer since the mid 1990’s, shooting with both film and CCD cameras.
Tom Field
Speaker
"Spectroscopy for Everyone!"
Spectroscopy is the art of analyzing the colorful rainbow spectrum that a device like a prism produces. Spectroscopy is the primary research tool used in modern astronomical research. However, until the last few years, spectroscopy has been too expensive and difficult for all but a few amateurs. Today, though, new tools make spectroscopy accessible to almost all of us. You no longer need a PhD, dark skies, long exposures, or enormous aperture! With your current telescope and camera (or even a simple web cam) you can now easily capture exciting spectra, including the atmosphere on Uranus or the red shift a quasar. This talk, with lots of interesting examples, will show you what it’s all about, help you understand how spectroscopy is used in research. And, it will show you how to get started.
Tom Field has been an amateur astronomer for about 20 years. Several years ago, a bit jaded on visual imaging, he decided it was time to do some real science with his equipment. Frustrated by the software tools that were available for spectroscopy, Tom wrote his own, which is now in use on six continents. Tom says, “My goal is to light a fire under the butts our amateur community, most of whom have no idea how easy and incredibly exciting spectroscopy can be.” Tom’s article on spectroscopy appeared in the August issue of Sky & Telescope Magazine and his software was just included in the magazine’s Hot Product 2012 list. He is a compelling speaker, making his topic interesting and accessible.
Mike Lockwood grew up under the dark, transparent mosquito-laden skies of northern Michigan, and that gave him a life-long appreciation of the night sky and fast bug-killing reflexes. He built several telescopes in high school and was a member of the Cincinnati Astronomical Society after his family moved there in 1990.
Mike earned a bachelor of science degree in computer engineering from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 1997, and a master of science in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1999. He was a research engineer at the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 2000 to 2009, researching digital signal processing and acoustic beamforming algorithms using multiple-microphone arrays. His research has been published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.
While in college, he was a member of the Rose-Hulman Astronomy Club and then the University of Illinois Astronomical Society. Recently he has served as president of the Champaign-Urbana Astronomical Society.
In 2006 Mike started Lockwood Custom Optics in his basement after figuring out that he had a knack for figuring mirrors. It is a one-man optical shop specializing in custom telescope mirrors of all types and sizes. In 2009, facing decreased research funding and increased demand for his optical work, he left his research job to become a full-time professional optician, and later that year he bought a new house with a shop space that could handle the size and weight of mirrors up to 60" in diameter. LCO now supplies large, fast optics to several telescope companies, many individuals, and industrial and scientific clients.
Mike is an avid amateur astronomer and telescope maker, and has built or been involved with building over 30 telescopes up to 50" in aperture. He has taught telescope making and mirror making classes. He has written several articles that have appeared in Sky & Telescope magazine and Amateur Astronomy Magazine, and has presented many talks at star parties, including a WSP talk in 2008, and yearly presentations at the Okie-Tex Star Party since 2007.
Mike's talk will include an overview of optical testing methods, and he will discuss how tests work, what tests work well for certain applications, and what can be hidden or missed by various tests. He will show example test images for your horror/amazement. Sarcasm is guaranteed.
Dr. Gianluca Masi
Speaker
Talk one: "Astroimaging and science with a new technology single arm, fork mount"
Talk two: "The Virtual Telescope Project: The real Universe from your desktop"
An astrophysicist by profession, Dr. Gianluca Masi, PhD, has been involved in astronomy since its childhood.
For more than three decades he has been observing and studying the skies with telescopes of any size and technology, spending several long periods over the Andes, in Chile, working with the ESO telescopes.
With his own telescopes, during his research activities he has discovered many asteroids and variable stars, also co-discovering two exoplanets.
For his scientific accomplishments he won several international prizes and asteroid "(21795) Masi" was named after him by the International Astronomical Union.
Gianluca is an avid visual observer and CCD imager; he loves to spend a lot of time sharing the beauty of the sky with people from all around the globe. In 2006 he started the Virtual Telescope Project (www.virtualtelescope.eu), a very advanced and remotely accessible astronomical facility, able to share the Cosmos in real time directly through the web: in five years, the Virtual Telescope showed the Universe to one million of individuals from about 200 different Countries.
A former editor for Sky & Telescope magazine and contributing editor and consultant for Odyssey magazine,Stephen James O’Meara is now a contributing editor for Astronomy magazine and has authored or coauthored a dozen popular books on astronomy and science. Steve has received the Lone Stargazer Award, the Omega Centauri Award and the Caroline Herschel Award for his greatest visual achievements, including the recovery of Halley’s Comet, the pre-Voyager discovery of “spokes” in Saturn’s rings, and the determination of Uranus rotation period. The International Astronomical Union named asteroid 3637 O'Meara in his honor.
Steve is also a contract photographer and videographer for National Geographic, and excels in documenting volcanic eruptions around the world. Steve has appeared on dozens of TV documentaries with his wife Donna –– ranging from Ripley’s Believe It or Not to a National Geographic Explorer movie ("Volcano Hunters") about their life; the latter film was selected as one of the year’s best National Geographic documentaries and won the Fall 2002 Golden Eagle Award for excellence in documentary.
You can read Stephen's past article at Astronomy.com web site: Stephen James O'Meara
You can see a clip below from "Seeing in the Dark" (Produced and Directed by Timothy Ferris) featuring Stephen!
Donald C. Parker, M.D.
Speaker
"Mars at the Winter Star Party"
Don Parker, a retired physician from Coral Gables, Florida has had a life-long interest in astronomy and, since 1953, has built a number of telescopes ranging in diameter from three to sixteen inches. Over the years Dr. Parker came to specialize in Solar System research and planetary photography. He has taken over 20,000 photographs and electronic images of Mars and Jupiter, as support for professional astronomers at NASA, JPL, and various observatories.
As a Mars Recorder for the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, Dr. Parker has done extensive research on the climate and meteorology of the planet Mars. He has authored or co-authored over 150 papers on the Solar System and on planetary photography. These have been published in both amateur and professional journals, such as Science, Nature, Icarus, the Astronomical Journal, and the Journal of Geophysical Research. Parker’s photographs and electronic images of the planets have appeared in numerous books and magazines throughout the world, including Encyclopedia Britannica’s 1996 Science and the Future. He is co-author of the book, Introduction to Observing and Photographing the Solar System.
He is a member of many professional and amateur astronomical organizations, including Miami’s Southern Cross Astronomical Society, the American Geophysical Union, the American Astronomical Society, and the British Astronomical Association. He is past director of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers.
In recognition of his contributions to planetary astronomy, Dr. Parker was honored by the International Astronomical Union in 1994, when an asteroid was given the name “5392 Parker”. In 2004 he was awarded the Oriental Astronomical Association’s Gold Medal for his work on Mars.
Dr. Mike Reynolds
Speaker
"The Politics of Space Exploration"
Dr. Mike Reynolds has spent thirty-five years in astronomy and space sciences in the gamut of a high school and university instructor, planetarium and museum director, researcher, writer, and lecturer. Reynolds has received numerous recognition for his work, including the 1986 Florida State Teacher of the Year, NASA Teacher-in-Space National Finalist, and the G. Bruce Blair Medal. He has written a number of astronomy books and articles and is a Consulting Editor for Astronomy Magazine. Reynolds is the Dean of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Florida State College, where he also teaches an astronomy class each semester, taught from an observational astronomy viewpoint.
Bob Summerfield
Speaker
Topic TBA
Better known to most as "The T-shirt Guy," "The Meteorite Guy," "Crazy Bob," or "Everyone's Favorite Pain In The A**," Bob Summerfield is the Founder and Director of Astronomy To Go, a Philadelphia-based, nonprofit educational outreach organization, formally begun in 1990. A life long amateur who's passion for Astronomy began with his first lessons in Space Science in 3rd grade, he has been teaching an adult school class at Cheltenham High School for 27 years, starting before he was a graduate. Bob has worked with Astronomy Clubs, schools, camps, scout troops, museums, and all sorts of civic organizations across the country. The goal is to encourage people to look up, and get to better understand our neighbors and happenings in the Universe, near and far. While most Star Party attendees think of Astronomy To Go's Vendor Booth as a unique Astronomical Gift Shoppe (not to mention a fun place to visit) most don't realize that it's just the fundraising side that supports their real mission of educational and public outreach. Working together with his wife, Lisa, Bob presents hundreds of programs each year for thousands of students of all ages. Their programs range from lectures and slide shows to hands on presentations, planetarium shows, and outdoor observing sessions, night and day. They are also the owners/caretakers of The Yard Scope (36"/f 5) and invite everyone to stop by for some time at the eyepiece.
Bob has appeared on numerous TV programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, Discovery Channel and NASA-TV, as well as many radio programs, and in print media, from newspapers nationwide to Sky & Telescope magazine. He has become a regular outreach presenter at the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences annual conference. Bob and Lisa were honored by the International Astronomical Union in 1997 when an Asteroid was named "7344 Summerfield" in recognition of their educational efforts. They were also honored to receive The Omega Centauri Award at the 2002 Texas Star Party for "bringing Astronomy to the public."
“Exploring the Hydrogen Sky: turning pretty pictures into real science”
Sean Walker joined the staff of Sky & Telescope in 2000 as the Ad Production Coordinator. A graduate of Massachusetts College of Art, Sean brought extensive experience with digital and photographic prepress techniques, as well as a lifelong interest in astronomy and several years of astrophotography experience from the not-so-dark skies of rural New England.
In his free time, Sean spent countless hours learning computer image processing techniques, as well as perfecting a few of his own. This attracted the attention of the editorial staff, and a few years later moved over to the editorial staff, specializing in astrophotography and new-product coverage.
Rather than concentrating on one imaging discipline, Sean pursues a multitude of imaging projects, from deep exposures of faint galaxies, to capturing high-resolution records of the Sun, Moon, and planets with an ever-changing arsenal of cameras and telescopes. A self-described "gear head," he is constantly testing out or trading astronomy equipment.
Sean’s talk “Exploring the Hydrogen Sky: turning pretty pictures into real science” follows the development of an ongoing collaboration with S&T Senior Editor Dennis di Cicco as they image the winter Milky-Way, which developed into a full-blown targeted survey.
2012 Winter Star Party
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