Communication from our Mid East Region of the Astronomical League (MERAL)

[Aldis Berzins]

HAL members,

See below...

Thanks,

Aldis Berzins (HAL ALCOR)

Greetings MERAL Presidents, ALCors, editors, officers and others,

Below is a message from Mary Webb, Delaware Astronomical Society librarian, with the April book selection and date and time of the April book club meeting.

Please share this information with your club members,

Clear skies,

Don Knabb

MERAL Chair

You and your guests are cordially invited to attend the April meeting of the Delaware Astronomical Society Library Book Club on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at 4:00 PM Eastern Time via Zoom.  

A Zoom link will be sent in advance of the meeting.

This month we will discuss First Light: Switching on Stars at the Dawn of Time by the British astrophysicist, Emma Chapman.  

We are pleased that Professor Chapman will join us from England for our meeting. 

The afternoon will feature a conversation between Professor Chapman and University of Delaware astrophysicist, Olga Navros, followed by group discussion.

The DAS Library Poet Laureate, David H. (Doveed) Levy PhD, will begin our meeting with the recitation of a poem.

The book explores the earliest history of the universe---the Cosmic Dawn, Population III stars, the Dark Ages, stellar archaeology, the formation of the first galaxies, the Epoch of Reionization, dark matter and structure formation, and the use of 21-cm radiation and radio astronomy to map the early universe.  

A reading of Chapman's First Light will provide the counterpoint to our upcoming June read, The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack.

From Bloomsbury Publishers:

Astronomers have successfully observed a great deal of the Universe's history, from recording the afterglow of the Big Bang to visualizing the shadow of a black hole. However when it comes to understanding how the Universe began and grew, we have literally been in the dark.

This book tells the story of the Cosmic Dawn – the time when the very first stars burst into life. These celestial giants were hundreds of times more massive than the Sun and a million times more luminous: lonely blue stars that lived fast and died young in enormous explosions, seeding the Universe with the elements that would eventually make up life itself. "First Light" illuminates this previously unknown, billion-year timeline. Astrophysicist Emma Chapman tells how these stars formed, why they were so unusual and what they can teach us about the universe today. She also also gives a first-hand look at the immense telescopes that are taking us from the realm of theoretical physics towards the wonder of looking back in time using observational astronomy. This revised edition has been updated to contain the latest findings across astronomy, from radio interferometry to gravitational waves and contains a brand new chapter covering the triumphant discovery of the first galaxies by the James Webb Space Telescope.

We hope you will join us for what promises to be a fascinating afternoon exploring the earliest history of the universe.

Mary Webb

Delaware Astronomical Society Librarian