NORTH CENTRAL REGION OF THE ASTRONOMICAL LEAGUE
ANNUAL CONVENTION
Hosted by Door Peninsula Astronomical Society
MAY 4-5, 2018 at The Lodge at Leathem-Smith
"Dark Skies for Bright Stars"
Following this theme, speakers are scheduled, the venue set, and a very interesting NCRAL 2018 is expected. Registration will open January 1, 2018. Located in Door County Wisconsin, which offers dark sky and beautiful natural surroundings, Door Peninsula Astronomical Society (DPAS) will host the meeting at the Lodge at Leathem Smith in Sturgeon Bay, WI. We will be celebrating the recent designation of nearby Newport State Park as an International Dark Sky Site, the first in Wisconsin and only the 13th in the entire United States. Anyone wishing to visit the site can bring viewing equipment or visit this beautiful park the day before or after the meeting.
On Friday evening members of DPAS will open our observatory and Astronomy Center for viewing and tours of the facilities. During the day Saturday we will be having an astronomy photo contest and astronomy related poetry contest. Bring any number of your own photos printed any size and original poems for voting by all participants.
The list of speakers follows and the subjects will prove to be on very timely topics. Download the schedule here.
A block of rooms with special rates has been set aside. Contact information is on the registration form. Payment for the meeting registration can be made by check to DPAS or through PayPal after the first of the year. Questions can be directed to Treasurer@doorastronomy.org.
Members of DPAS cordially invite you and your guests to join us here in beautiful Door County, Wisconsin for an informative and relaxing weekend with fellow amateur astronomers.
NCRAL 2018 Speakers
Kevin Poe is the Green Energy Project Manager at the National Park Service at Bryce Canyon, Utah. He is a second generation Park Ranger and owner of Dark Ranger Telescope Tours. Kevin calls himself the Dark Ranger to make environmental advocacy cool and heroic, and describes himself as a Planet Hugger. Teaching awareness of light pollution and understanding of the universe to people of all ages through lectures and stories is his goal.
Kate Meredith is the Education Director at the University of Chicago Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, WI. She is currently working on a program for students with low vision and blindness to develop image processing software. The three year project, Innovators Developing Accessible Tools for Astronomy (IDATA) is funded by the National Science Foundation. She will explore what else we can do with invisible data that will allow everyone access to the same quality and quantity of information.
Audrey Fischer works through her organization, One Star at a Time to create star parks in Chicago and around the world. Star parks are designated areas there the lights are off or directed downward. As a Chicago native, she knows that it isn’t a perfect place for stargazing, but she is working to return stars back into all cities. Audrey stated during an interview for the Chicago Tribune “Starlight belongs to each and every person in the world. A starry night gives people a reason to look up and to realize that others from around the globe share the same sky. Starlight is the path to closer understanding of our universe, each other and ourselves – and maybe it’s even a path toward peace”.
Beth Bartoli is the Naturalist at Newport State Park in Door County, our recently designated Dark Sky Site. The designation was awarded after years of work by her, the staff of the park and our Door Peninsula Astronomical Society. She helps conduct astronomy programs at the park and states “We never tire of seeing that ‘aha’ moment on the upturned faces of our visitors as they gaze toward the heavens”. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Newport State Park are committed to protect our dark sky through lighting projects, community education and outreach.
Tyler Linder is a professional astronomer supported by NASA’s Near Earth Object Observations (NEOO) research grants to track and study the Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) population. His presentation will focus on the information that can be obtained by asteroid characterization, both through light curve analysis as well as visible and near-infrared spectroscopy. The collaboration between amateur and professional astronomers uses middle and high school students as well as undergraduate students.