We have a great meeting lined up for April 1. Don’t be a fool, attend our meeting! Our guest speaker will be Prof. Chris Magri, Assistant Professor of Physics and Chair of the Natural Sciences Department at the University of Maine at Farmington. Prof. Magri is a radio astronomer who concentrates on asteroids. The topic for his talk is “A Radar Analysis of Asteroid Bennu.” This is especially timely considering that Bennu was recently explored by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission that grabbed samples from the asteroid’s surface and is returning them to Earth. The capsule containing materials is set to arrive in late September 2023.

Prof. Magri also spent considerable time in his career observing from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The facility recently had a catastrophic failure in its infrastructure rendering the telescope unsalvageable. It will be instructive to hear Prof. Magri’s assessment of radio astronomy without Arecibo and what might be being planned for its replacement.

Prof. Magri spoke to SMA several years ago about Asteroid Apophis and its potential as a threat to Earth. Apophis is back in the news this week with updated telemetry and a determination that the threat has abated – at least for the next century.

Prof. Magri obtained his undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia and his MS and Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University. Known for his animated and humorous style, you’ll want to attend Prof. Magri’s talk.

The meeting will also feature short topics and member input. Russ Pinizzotto will then take us on another exciting tour – get your combs ready – of the constellation Coma Berenices – or Berenice’s hair. The meeting will conclude with the Annual Meeting of Members and the Annual Meeting of Directors in which we will elect two new directors to the Board, and the Board will elect club Officers. These are legally required meetings and we therefore ask members to stay tuned in so we can have good input and also meet our quorum requirements.

The meeting starts officially at 7 p.m. with Prof. Magri’s talk. Doors open at 6:30 for socializing. The link was sent out to our Google Group. Please attend if you can and we look forward to seeing you.

We have a great program lined up for February. Our speaker is Chuck Allen, Vice President of the Astronomical League. The Astronomical League is the largest astronomical organization in the world: it has over 18,000 members and 304 participating societies of which we are one. The League is celebrating its 75^th anniversary this year. Chuck has been part of the management structure of the organization for many years, having served as AL President from 1998-2002. He has spoken to hundreds of groups and clubs across the country and will have an excellent perspective on what’s happening in the amateur astronomy community, particularly in a time of COVID restrictions. In addition to producing the quarterly Reflector magazine that club members get the League also has over 80 Observing Clubs designed to challenge and educate stargazers. I’m sure we have a lot to learn from Chuck’s talk on making our club even better.

We will also have a few minutes of open mic for folks to share recent observations or information about places they have visited or articles or books they’ve read about Astronomy. A feature of club meetings we’ve been working on – short (5 minute) bios on famous and sometimes not-so-famous astronomers – will resume in February with a presentation on Mary Somerville. Who’s Mary Somerville? Well come and find out!

Finally, Russ Pinizzotto will take us on a tour of the constellation AURIGA. Come learn about some very cool objects to observe in this winter constellation, currently overhead.

The Zoom doors open at 6:30 pm for some socializing, with the formal meeting starting at 7. Hope you can join us!