Mtg&Talks: Stars of the Great Gyre & Upcoming Lunar Missions

The Warren Astronomical Society meets on the first Monday of the month in the auditorium of the Cranbrook Institute of Science.

We simulcast meetings online using Zoom. Meetup charges even more money to set up hybrid meetings, so subscribe to our email list on warrenastro.org to get the Zoom links! Meetings are also livestreaming on our YouTube channel.

At the meetings, we spend the first hour or so of the meeting on club business and observing reports, then have two presentations, one short and one full-length.

Main Talk:
The Stars of the Great Gyre
By G. M. Ross

The grandest time piece for the Earth is the 25,800 year cycle for the axis of rotation. This shift in the celestial sphere runs at approximately 50 arc-seconds per annum [ital]. As a result the position of the Celestial Pole moves through the constellations, changing the pole stars, if any. This lecture will review the pole stars both north and south from early antiquity to very far future per man's reckoning. In addition, there will be comparative data for stellar characteristics.

About the Speaker
G. M. Ross was for many years the Greatest Observer in Michigan, now retired. First observations, 1958, with father's binoculars. In the "aughts", third greatest First Vice-President in W.A.S history. Currently and for over fifty years, member of the Grand Rapids Astronomical Association.

Short Talk:
Upcoming Lunar Missions Great and Small
by Gregory Frederick

In the 1960’s there was a major space race with the USA competing with the USSR to get to the Moon first. Now we are in the midst of another great space race. This time it is between the USA and China to get to the Moon again but not just as a form of prestige but to create a permanent Moon base and to start to utilize the Moon’s resources.

About the Speaker
Gregory Frederick is a retired Mechanical Engineer with 3 degrees: a MSME from U of M, a BSME from LTU and an Associates Degree from MCCC. Gregory has principally worked in Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) doing structural analysis of vehicles with Finite Element computer based virtual vehicle models and virtual sub-systems models. He used some of the same software that NASA used to do structural analysis of their spacecraft and Mars robots. He visited NASA Langley when he was training in various CAE software programs. Greg has had a life-long interest in both the manned and unmanned space programs and in Cosmology and Astronomy in general. Greg is also a docent at Cranbrook and at the Selfridge Air Museum and he and his wife Ella live in Shelby Township.

***

If you would like to present either a short talk (10-15 minutes) or a full-length talk (45-60 minutes) at a future meeting, please email Jonathan Kade at firstvp@warrenastro.org.

The views expressed in presentations are those of the speakers and do not necessarily represent, and should not be attributed to, the Warren Astronomical Society.