Phoenix Astronomical Society meetings - April 2011

[The Phoenix Astronomical Society]

Phoenix Astronomical Society meetings - 28th, 29th, 30th April

The Case for Mars.
Haritina Mogosanu, President Mars Society NZ

Earth and Mars could have both harboured life. We are not sure yet if
the famous meteorite captured from Mars and analysed by the scientists
here on Earth has bacteria imprinted on it or not but we believe that
Mars could be colonised by humans one day. The question is “When?”. To
the question “Why?” we could answer: Mars is the next logical step
after the Moon in the exploration of space. A day on Mars lasts for 24
hours (and 37 minutes); you could get to Mars in approximately six
month, Mars has water, carbon dioxide, this makes Mars a place where
we could live. From there we could learn even more about the Universe.
That’s why studying Mars is on the agenda of all the space agencies in
the world. Herman Oberth (one of the fathers of astronautics and
rocketry) commented about that almost a hundred years ago: "This is
the goal: To make available for life every place where life is
possible. To make inhabitable all worlds as yet uninhabitable and all
life purposeful.” The race to Mars has begun and only a political
decision is now required to send a human crew to the Red Planet. We
already claim that we have the technology to get there.

Documentary
How the Universe Works: Episode 4 – Extreme Stars
This is the story of how stars were made and how they then went on to
engineer everything else in universe.

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Wellington Society Meeting
Thursday April 28th 7:30pm, Carter Observatory, Wellington

7:30 pm Society News
7:45 pm The Case for Mars
8:45 pm Supper and social time
9:00 pm Documentary: Extreme Stars

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Wairarapa Society Meeting
Friday April 29th at 7:30pm, Phoenix Clubrooms, Ahiaruhi, Wairarapa

7:30 pm Society News
7:45 pm The Case for Mars
8:45 pm Supper and social time
9:00 pm Documentary: Extreme Stars
Observing will follow the meeting if it is clear.


Star Party Saturday April 30th from 6pm (Rain or Shine):
This year the lunar cycle allows us to once again place the monthly
star party the Saturday directly after Wairarapa meeting. This means
we get two shots at a clear, dark sky each month without interruption
from the moon. Reminders and any cancellations go out on the Phoenix
Announcements emailing list, if you‘re not receiving these then please
join up here: http://groups.google.com/group/phoenix-astro-announcement?lnk=srg.

We‘ll kick off at 6pm with the traditional BBQ. As we move into autumn
we bid farewell to the summer Milky Way. The realm of the galaxies is
almost upon us in the form of the constellations of Leo and Virgo.
We’ll start the evening with our traditional BBQ before taking a close
up look at the constellations and galaxies of autumn.

We‘ll be playing a late night movie from 10pm to keep entertained
those people too tired or cold to observe. If the weather‘s rubbish
we‘ll start it a bit earlier.

6:00 pm BBQ and Get-together
7:30 pm Tour through Leo and Virgo (live planetarium)
8:00 pm Observing: Leo and Virgo
10:00 pm Movie