Wow, is that Hail to the Victors I hear playing? Is Art Fair really next week? Summer will be gone before we know what hit us, but before that happens is our July Lowbrow meeting!
We will be meeting on Friday, July 19 at 7:30 PM… but not at the Detroit Observatory. Instead, we will be making our annual visit to Sherzer Observatory at Eastern Michigan University. We started this tradition many years ago because our July meeting usually lands during the AA Art Fairs, and parking is, well, good luck. This would probably not be an issue at the DO, but we enjoy our summer trips to EMU.
Arrive between 7 and 7:30 PM, because as our tradition has it, we will have pizza delivered and I will be bringing cookies and beverages. After we are stuffed, we will gather in the EMU planetarium. No food or drinks allowed in there. Our speaker is Miles Mercier, an EMU Astronomy grad (or student?), who is going to talk to us about radio astronomy. We are also in for a surprise presentation, but if I reveled it, it would no longer be a surprise. Guess you will have to be there. After the presentations and probably a planetarium demo, we will walk over to Sherzer Observatory to enjoy Norb Vance’s vast array of telescopes. This part is of course, weather dependent. But even when it is cloudy we usually walk over for people that want to see the facility, and the beautiful, big Astrophysics refractor in the main dome.
Warning…parking is critical. I have attached a map, on which you will see the guest parking lot at the comer of Washtenaw and Oakland. Park in that lot only! If you do not, we guarantee you will get an expensive ticket. Be prepared to pay via card when you exit. I do not recall if the machine takes cash, but I think it does not. It is not cheap, but the ticket would be much worse. You will see the building labeled 14 on the map. The planetarium is on the top floor in the northwest corner. Norb will have some signs to guide you. I hope you can join us. This is one of the most fun things we do all year. Oh, did I mention the free food.
Clear skies,
Charlie
Sherzer Hall
