At this month’s meeting of the Gloucester Area Astronomy Club, Friday October 14, 8:00 pm at the Lanesville Community Center, we’re lucky enough to have our very own Mario Motta with a presentation on his latest science project, an investigation of a white dwarf star (WD 1145+017) in Virgo that is orbited by the remains of a disintegrating small planet or asteroid.

This is the star that was thought by some to have an alien mega structure around it, because of its very strange patterns of dimming and brightening. Alas, no aliens that we can see, but the truth is almost as interesting; the star seems to be tearing apart a small planet, leaving multiple small planetesimals and cometary trails in its wake. The destruction of an actual planet is bound to lead to a really enthralling tale, and this one has the benefit of being true.

Mario’s been following and charting this phenomenon, and is going to share the process and the results with us on the 14th. It’s always fun to have GAAC speakers who can report first-hand on actual astronomical events, and our October 2016 meeting will be one of those rare nights. This will be an evening of astronomy, decaf, good snacks and great conversation. Don’t miss this one!

GAAC meets at 8:00 pm on the second Friday of every month except August at the Lanesville Community Center, 8 Vulcan Street in Lanesville. All are welcome; you don’t need any special knowledge to have a great time. There are no dues or fees, and off-street parking is free as well. For more information see the club Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/GAACpage, the website at http://gaac.us, or follow us on Twitter, @GAACster.

Just a quick reminder that there is no GAAC meeting in August. Too many people are away on vacation; we’ll be back in September.

Weather permitting, the final Halibut Point State Park star party of the season takes place on Sept 3rd; there will be an early first-quarter moon, Mars, Saturn, Neptune, and lots of bright nebulae and star clusters. We’ll be set up next to the Visitor Center. Please park in the paved lot and walk up the path.

Our Sept 9 GAAC meeting will feature Steve Kolaczkowski with an astronomical brain teaser of a presentation, asking “How Do We Know the Things We Know?” and of course with any luck, showing us the answers. This should be a whole lot of fun, so come early for a good seat. More on this later.

Enjoy the rest of the Summer, and we’ll see you in September.

The speaker for the Friday July 8 GAAC meeting will be astronomer Phil Orbanes, with the “Deep Sky Name Game,” a fun examination of all those deep-sky object names that can’t help but leave us baffled. The Running Man nebula, the Flame nebula, the Eagle nebula — look closely; do you see a running man, or an eagle in there someplace? Maybe a flaming eagle? What were astronomers thinking? How on Earth did they come up with those names?

Nebulae of every stripe are some of the most spectacular and colorful objects in the universe, but there is very often no obvious resemblance between names and appearances. Phil may or may not be able to explain some of these choices to us, but we’ll have fun watching him try. Come along on a tour of some puzzling examples of stunning nebulae that will leave you scratching your heads in wonder.

The Gloucester Area Astronomy Club meets at the Lanesville Community Center, 8 Vulcan Street, at 8:00 pm on the second Friday of the month. There is plenty of free parking, and there is no cost. All are welcome. For more info on the club and its activities please see our website, at http://gaac.us, and our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/GAACpage Follow us on twitter, @GAACster.

Keep your fingers crossed for good weather for the very next evening, July 9th, our second Halibut Point State Park Star Party of the 2016 season. This one will be full of planets and moons from dusk to 10:00-ish, next to the Visitor Center. There is no cost. Please park in the paved lot and walk up to the Visitor Center.

Friday night, 8:00 pm at the Lanesville Community Center is the June GAAC meeting, featuring a group of astrophotographers presenting some of their best work.

Weather permitting, the Gloucester Area Astronomy Club and HPSP present the first summer star party of 2016 at the Halibut Point Visitor Center, from dusk to 10:00 pm on Saturday night, June 4. There is no cost.

The club will have telescopes set up for the public to look through; we’ll see Jupiter and its moons, Mars, Saturn, summer star clusters and galaxies, colorful binary stars, and more. Come on out and say hello to Summer with a guided tour through your wonderful dark Cape Ann skies.

Please park in the paved lot off of Gott Ave, and walk the short distance up the hill to the Visitor Center. If it’s overcast we’ll try again on July 9.

The Gloucester Area Astronomy Club meets on the first Friday of the month from 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm at the Lanesville Community Center, 8 Vulcan Street in Lanesville. All are welcome; parking is free and there are no dues or fees. No special knowledge or equipment is needed to have a great time. For more info on the club please see the web page, at http://gaac.us, the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/gaacpage, or you can follow the club on Twitter, @GAACster.

This coming Friday the Gloucester Area Astronomy Club will have Robert Naeye, former Editor in Chief of Sky & Telescope magazine, speaking about his recent trip out west to observe at the Mount Wilson 100 inch telescope, as well as his eclipse trip to Indonesia. Bob, who seems to travel a lot, is an old GAAC favorite, a talented speaker, and you won’t want to miss this fun, informative presentation.

The April GAAC “Welcome to Amateur Astronomy” meeting has been postponed from our usual meeting date to next week, April 15th, 8:00-9:30 pm at the Lanesville Community Center, 8 Vulcan Street in Lanesville.

On Friday March 11 GAAC is extremely fortunate to have Dr. John Hobbs with a presentation on his hands-on work in the Apollo era, analyzing moon rocks at Cornell University. John has an amazing, first-hand story to tell. If you’ve always wanted to meet and ask questions of someone personally involved in the science results from the Apollo Moon missions, this is your chance.

This one promises to be a lot of fun.

Dr. Hobbs received a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of New Hampshire, and spent a year as a National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the U.S. Army Materials and Mechanics Research Laboratory.

John also put in a year as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in the Chemistry Department at Cornell University. It was at Cornell that he performed trace analysis on the Apollo 11 lunar samples.

More recently, John has had a long career developing security equipment for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Save the date! Come on in and enjoy an evening of great conversation, a terrific first-hand account of an important, historical series of events, and yummy things to eat and drink. All are welcome. We’re easy to find, the parking is free and plentiful, the people are always friendly, and there is no cost. It’s all good.

GAAC meets on the second Friday of the month at 8:00 pm, at the Lanesville Community Center, 8 Vulcan Street in the Lanesville neighborhood of Gloucester. For more information on the club see their website at http://gaac.us, their Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/GAACpage, or on twitter, @GAACster.

The Gloucester Area Astronomy Club, Gloucester Lyceum and the Sawyer Free Library are teaming up again this Spring to bring you “Exploring the Night Sky,” a series of all-new presentations on Amateur Astronomy! The talks will be held in the Friend room, and are scheduled on Saturday afternoons from 1:00 to 3:00 on March 5 and 19, and April 2, 23 and 30.

This Saturday, March 5 at 1:00, we’re pleased to bring you Astronomy Magazine staff writer Glenn Chaple with a presentation on enjoying astronomy with small telescopes. You don’t need a thousand-dollar monster to see a whole lot of what the universe has to offer, and Glenn will show you how it’s done. Glenn will have on hand a number of inexpensive telescopes for you to check out and ask questions about, and you will be amazed at what’s visible without breaking the bank.

Come see and hear how to take full advantage of Cape Ann’s gorgeous night skies. The talks are free, and so is the parking. See you there!

More details on the Astronomy Club are available on their website, http://gaac.us, the club Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/GAACpage, and on Twitter, @GAACster.