Meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month at 7:30 pm at miSci (formerly the Schenectady Museum),
except in August, when we have a star party at the Landis Arboretum.

Our meeting will be held at 7:30 PM on Thursday, April 17, in the auditorium at miSci. We are pleased to have Dr. Francis Wilkin from Union College back as a speaker.
Dr. Wilkin’s talk will be “Planetary Nebulae: What an astrophysicist thinks amateur astronomers should, or might like to, know.”
Glowing, hot bubbles created in the final stages of the lives of ordinary stars are called planetary nebulae,
a misnomer that dates to William Herschel (we should forgive him, since he discovered the planet Uranus). Like neon signs of stellar evolution, these objects glow due to ionizing, ultraviolet photons from the central star. Many planetary nebulae can be seen with small telescopes, and a few are visible even in a pair of binoculars. Unlike other nebulae (clouds of gas) such as the Orion Nebula, a planetary nebula is made of gas that comes from one star - all of the cloud was once the atmosphere of a now dying star.
I will explain how planetary nebulae are related to the late stages of stellar evolution, from the red giant phase onward, and we will see breathtaking examples of many planetaries taken by recent space-based observatories.

AAAA apparel can be ordered at this meeting:
Greg Wing has kindly offered to handle another set of orders for AAAA apparel, so if you'd like to order more, or stock up, now is the time! We don't know if or when this offer will be repeated.

To avoid a new set-up charge and make things simpler, all items will have the embroidered logo. The offerings and prices are as follows: T-shirt (sapphire or sports gray), $13.00; sweatshirt (sapphire or sports gray), $20.00; Polo Shirt (sapphire or sports gray), $22.00; Zip Hood (sports gray only), $32.00; baseball cap (Caribbean), $13.00. All shirts and the hood are available in small, medium, large, extra large, and extra-extra large. There is an extra $3.50 charge for any items ordered in extra-extra large.

Greg will be accepting orders at the April 17 and May 15 club meetings, and all orders must be in by May 15. Checks, payable to Albany Area Amateur Astronomers, are requested, and cash is strongly discouraged.

If you have any questions, please email Greg Wing at gregnwing@gmail.com

An order form has been uploaded to the Yahoo group. Click on "Files" and look in the "AAAA Club Logo" folder, which is right at the top of the list.

Thanks, and clear skies, Alan

A Note on Meeting Cancellations during Winter Months

Remember that bad weather may force a meeting cancellation.  If the Schenectady Museum is closed, our meeting is canceled.  Most of the local radio and television stations have on-line listings of closings, or check with the museum (382-7890).  We will announce cancellations on the club and Rising Star Yahoo groups (astro_albany and risingstar), or you can call Alan at 374-8460.