McDonnell Hall, Washington University - St. Louis
7:30pm Friday, January 19, 2024
ASU Explores the Solar System
NASA’s program for Solar System Exploration has been active since the 1960s, with robotic spacecraft, including flybys, orbiters, landers, rovers, and sample return, visiting many of the major planets, as well as dwarf planets and asteroids and comets. Arizona State University (ASU, Phoenix-Tempe) has been a leader in planetary geology research for decades, along with St. Louis’ own Washington University. What current missions and destinations are in NASA’s plans? Join Dr. David Williams, research professor in ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, for a deep dive into the various missions exploring the Solar System this decade and beyond!
Dr. David A. Williams is a Research Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. David is currently performing research in volcanology and planetary geology, with a focus on planetary mapping, remote sensing, and computer modeling studies. He was involved with NASA’s Magellan Mission to Venus, Galileo Mission to Jupiter, Dawn Mission to asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, and ESA’s Mars Express orbiter. He is currently Deputy Imager Lead on NASA’s Psyche Mission. David is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, and asteroid 10,461 DAWILLIAMS was named in his honor.
The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM Friday, January 19 in McDonnell Hall, Room 162, on the Danforth campus of Washington University, Saint Louis, MO 63105. McDonnell Hall is accessible from Forsyth Boulevard via Tolman Way. Free yellow zone and garage parking spaces are available. The event will also be available via Zoom online conference.
For the Zoom link, please send a request to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The event, cosponsored by NASA's Missouri Space Grant Consortium, is open to the public free of charge.
Meeting Agenda
Main Speaker
A101 - SLAS Outreach Training Program
Make sure your 2023 Outreach Volunteer Hours are correct by Jan 20th!
SLAS has a group permit for Danville CA, here.https://groups.io/g/SLASDialogs/files/Permits.
Please renew your Expiring Memberships. LINK
Note: S&T has raised their subscriptions rates for 2023
Upcoming Meetings:
February 2024: Angela Speck, PhD. “2024 Eclipse”; University Texas at San Antonio
March 2024: Tom Rathjen “The Moon & Beyond”; NASA
April 2024: Gautham Narayan, PhD “4 Meter Telescope in Chile”; Univ of Illinois
May 2024: : Fran Bagenal, PhD. Exploration of Jupiter System: Past, Present and Future”; University of Colorado at Boulder
June 2024: Steven R Gullberg, PhD. “Archeoastronomy”; University of Oklahoma
July 2024: Ashley Davies, PhD. “Juno Close Flybys of Io"; JPL
November 2024: Robert Zubrin, PhD. “The Case for Mars”; The Mars Society
SLAS in the News
HECMedia: Dark Sky Missouri - Stacy Park Olivette, MO
Ladue News: Seeing stars: Upcoming events and opportunities for St. Louis stargazing,
Jefferson County Leader: Aim for the Stars, By Kevin Carbery, July 27, 2023
https://www.kmov.com/video/2023/06/20/great-day-4-kids/
Aug 24, 2023 myMOinfo.com: St. Louis Astronomical Society Offering Free Upcoming Activities at Jefferson College
Aug 30, 2023 KTVI: Special Super Moon
Sep 11, 2023 KETC TV Missouri Eclipse Task Force (starts around 13:30 minutes)
Oct 6, 2023 St Louis Post-Dispatch
Get your glasses ready: Another total solar eclipse is coming near St. Louis in 6 months
Oct. 10, 2023 St. Louis County Library
Our new SLAS coffee mugs have arrived. They will be available to purchase at
our regular meetings at Washington U. Price: $10 each, 2 for $15
Special Recognition Award Nominations are due by Sep 1st.
2024 Astronomy Events by Mark Jones
Social Hour - 30 min after meeting conclusion or 10:30 Which ever is earlier.
Randy Harrison's Lookin' Up Optics page: http://lookinup.info/
Here are the websites that Dr. Gokhale mentioned in his talk in June
Dark Sky Missouri
www.darkskymissouri.org
Video: 'Saving the Dark' A film on Light Pollution by Sriram Murali
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fHxNn-FEnc
Globe at Night program for light pollution
Telescopes for Sale!
1980’s Coulter Odyssey 8” Dobsonian Telescope, 1-1/4” focuser. No finder or eyepieces included. Selling price on Astromart $225, asking $150
4.25-inch f/10, Reflecting Telescope, Wooden Tripod, 6x30mm finder, 1 ¼ focuser, $10