8th Annual Texas Gulf Coast Astronomy Meeting

Hosted by Fort Bend Astronomy Club



Astronomical League
Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP)
Astronomical Society of South East Texas (ASSET)
Brazos Bend State Park (BBSP)
Fort Bend Astronomy Club (FBAC)
George Observatory, Houston Museum of Natural Science
Galveston Stargazers
Houston Astronomical Society (HAS)
Houston Community College (HCC)
Huntsville Amateur Astronomy Society

International Dark Sky Association (IDA)
Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society (JSCAS)
Kalmbach Publishing

Lone Star College - Kingwood
Land, Sea & Sky/Texas Nautical Repair
Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI)
Meade Instruments Corporation
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory-California (JPL)
NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Night Sky Network

North Houston Astronomy Club (NHAC)
Rice University - Physics and Astronomy Dept.

Where:  Auditorium of the Houston Community College Downtown Administration Building, Main and Elgin
When: Friday, October  17,  2008
Refreshments and Registration:
7:00 to 8:00 PM 
Meeting -
8:00 to 10:00 PM
Keynote Speaker: Dr. David Levy -
“My Life and Times as a Comet Hunter”

Parking will be available in the 3100 South Main parking garage at no charge all evening. Parking here is plentiful.
Take the garage elevator to the 3rd floor.
The sky walk takes you directly to the 2nd floor of the administration building where the main auditorium is.

For directions to Houston Community College Downtown Campus, click here.

Astronomy Day T-shirts:
The Astronomy Day 2008 T-shirts will be available at 7:00 PM ($15).
Proceeds will be used to support the Gulf Coast Regional meeting and Astronomy Day events.
T-shirt design by Derek Newton


T-shirt front

T-shirt back

Keynote Speaker:



Dr. David Levy
Presentation:
“My Life and Times as a Comet Hunter”

Dr. David Levy Bio

     David H. Levy is one of the most successful comet discoverers in history. He has discovered 22 comets, nine of them using his own backyard telescopes. With Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California, he discovered Shoemaker-Levy 9, the comet that collided with Jupiter in 1994. That episode produced the most spectacular explosions ever witnessed in the solar system. Levy is currently involved with the Jarnac Comet Survey, which is based at the Jarnac Observatory in Vail, Arizona, but which has telescopes planned for locations around the world.
     Levy is the author or editor of 35 books and other products. He won an Emmy in 1998 as part of the writing team for the Discovery Channel documentary "Three Minutes to Impact." As the Science Editor for Parade Magazine, he is able to reach more than 80 million readers, almost a quarter of the population of the United States. A contributing editor for Sky and Telescope magazine, he writes its monthly "Star Trails" column, and his "Nightfall" feature appears in each issue of the Canadian magazine, Skynews. David Levy has given more than 1,000 lectures and major interviews, and has appeared on many television programs, such as the Today Show, Good Morning America, the National Geographic special "Asteroids: Deadly Impact" and ABC's World News Tonight, where he and the Shoemakers were named Persons of the Week for July 22, 1994. Also, Levy has done nationally broadcast testimonials for PBS (1995-present), and for the Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon (1998-2002). He and his wife, Wendee, host a weekly radio show available worldwide at www.letstalkstars.com.
     David is adjunct scientist and member of the National Advisory Board for the Flandrau Science Center in Tucson (University of Arizona), which is near the Lunar & Planetary Laboratory. He has also been awarded five honorary doctorates, and Asteroid 3673 (Levy) was named in his honor. David has recently been accepted to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he is writing a PhD dissertation for the Department of English on the topic of “The Sky in Early Modern English Literature: A Study of Allusions to Celestial Events in Elizabethan and Jacobean Writing, 1572-1610.”
     Levy is President of the National “Sharing the Sky Foundation,” an organization intended to inspire new generations to develop an inquiring interest in the sciences, or in other words, to reach for the stars.
     David and Wendee reside in Vail, Arizona.

Meeting Agenda

7:00 PM
Registration and T-shirts

8:00 PM
Call to Order
Dr. Juan Carlos Reina,
Houston Community College

8:03 PM
Astronomy Day Award Presentation
Bill Christian,
Astronomical Society of South East Texas


CLUB PRESIDENTS
Astronomical Society of South East Texas
President,
Lonnie Mosely

Fort Bend Astronomy Club
President,
Derek Newton

Houston Astronomical Society
President,
Bill Leach

Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society
President,
David Haviland

North Houston Astronomy Club
President,
Lorrie Patel

George Observatory HMNS
Director,
Barbara Wilson
"Astronomy Day Host Facility"

8:21 PM
Astronomy Day Announcements
Cynthia Gustava,
 Astronomy Day Coordinator

8:24 PM
The Great Texas Gulf Coast Giveaway
Connie Haviland
Bob Taylor
Sarah Haviland
James Wooten
Amelia Goldberg

8:34 PM
Break Announcements
Dennis Borgman,
Fort Bend Astronomy Club

8:37 PM
Break

8:47 PM
Call to Order
Dr. Aaron Clevenson,
North Houston Astronomy Club

8:50 PM
Speaker Introduction
Steve Goldberg,
 Houston Astronomical Society

8:55 PM
Keynote Speaker
Dr. David Levy
“My Life and Times as a Comet Hunter”

Question & Answer Session
Bill Leach,
Houston Astronomical Society
Justin McCollum,
Astronomical Society of South East Texas

9:55 PM
Last Announcements & Adjournment
Ken Miller,
Houston Astronomical Society

For more information, contact Bill Leach at 281-312-1650 or E-mail him at astrobil@flash.net


Last updated 9/28/2008