TSP 2010 Guest Speakers and Daily Schedule
Guest Speakers
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Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ ,
astronomer at the Vatican Observatory whose research includes observing the colors of
trans-Neptunian Objects at the Vatican Observatory's Advanced Technology Telescope.
Speaking on Pluto and Planets X: Is Pluto a Planet? And Why Does It Matter?.
Some 15 years ago, the first "trans-Neptunian Object" besides
Pluto was discovered. Within the past five years, a rush of new
discoveries has revealed a number of bodies whose size rivals that of Pluto.
What are these objects? Where did they come
from, and what can they tell us about the origin and evolution of the solar
system? How are these objects found, and why they
only being discovered now? Finally, are they indeed new planets? Who gets to
say, and how is this determined? What did the
IAU finally decide at its General Assembly in 2006, and how was that
decision reached? Observing these objects, and
observing their observers, is a revealing story in both the science and
politics of planetary astronomy.
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Dan Davis ,
professor of geophysics at Stony Brook University in New York.
Speaking on From Texas to Tethys: Tectonics Around the Solar System.
The rocks of Texas and the rest of North America record a history crustal
folding and tilting, accompanied by every possible
class of faulting. The same types of deformation can be seen in various
forms on the Moon and the other terrestrial planets
(Mercury, Venus and Mars), and also on many of the icy satellites of the
outer Solar System. From the various types of
tectonic activity on each body, we have been able to learn a great deal
about its history and how it fits into the story of the
Solar System as a whole. In recent years, we have come to realize, though,
that the mechanism behind most deformation on
Earth, plate tectonics, is found only on our planet. Elsewhere in the solar
system a range of different forces are at work. We
will take a photographic tour through the discoveries across the solar
system that have led to a renewed appreciation of our
own unique world.
Dan and Guy Consolmagno together wrote Turn Left at Orion,
which has become one of the most popular guides to using a
small telescope ever published... but the adventures
of getting it written and published were almost as much fun as all the
observing we did for the book! Guy and Dan will tell
stories of the steps, and missteps, that have gone into various editions of
their book... (with a sneak preview of things to
come?) Watch out for those pesky wabbits!
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Delores Hill ,
senior research specialist at the Lunar & Planetary Laboratory (LPL) at the University of Arizona.
Speaking on Meteorites: Keys to Understanding the Solar System...Texas Style,
she has a lifelong interest in amateur astronomy and meteorites, analyzing and studying meteorites
at LPL since 1981.
2010 Tentative Schedule -
Click Here
to download a complete schedule including afternoon speakers
Sunday, May 9
2:00 - 5:30 PM Ranch Check-in Opens
9:00 PM Front Gate closes/Dark-out
Monday, May 10
1:00 - 5:00 PM TSP Registration (Meeting Hall)
9:00 PM Front Gate closes/Dark-out
Tuesday, May 11
1:00 PM Bus departs for McDonald Observatory Tour
1:30-4:30 Presentations by Vendors (Meeting Hall)
4:30 - 5:30 PM TSP Registration (Meeting Hall)
7:00 PM TSP Ladies Night-at-the-Movies (everyone welcome)
"Stardust" (2007)
9:00 PM Front Gate closes/Dark-out
Wednesday, May 12
1:30 - 4:30 Paper Sessions, Workshops, and Presentations
4:30 - 5:30 TSP Registration
7:30 PM EVENING SPEAKER - Dan Davis, New York
From Texas to Tethys: Tectonics Around the Solar System
9:00 PM Front Gate closes/Dark-out
Thursday, May 13
1:30 - 4:30 Paper Sessions, Workshops, and Presentations
4:30 - 5:30 TSP Registration
7:30 PM EVENING SPEAKER - Brother Guy Consolmagno, Italy
Pluto and Planets X: Is Pluto a Planet?
And Why Does It Matter?
9:00 PM Front Gate closes/Dark-out
Friday, May 14
1:10 TSP Group Photo (by Ranch Office)
1:20 PM Bus departs for McDonald Observatory Tour
2:00 Southwest Region Meeting (in Meeting Hall)
3:30 Swap Meet (in front of Vendor Building)
4:30 - 5:30 TSP Registration
7:30 PM EVENING SPEAKER - Dan Davis and Brother Guy Consolmagno
Twenty Five Years of Turning Left: Are We There Yet?
Great Texas Giveaway Part 1, Awards, and Recognition
9:00 PM Front Gate closes/Dark-out (at end of meeting)
Saturday, May 15
1:00 PM Bus departs for McDonald Observatory Tour
1:30 - 4:30 Paper Sessions, Workshops, and Presentations
4:30 - 5:30 TSP Registration
7:30 PM EVENING SPEAKER - Dolores Hill, Arizona
Meteorites: Keys to Understanding the Solar System...Texas Style
Great Texas Giveaway Part 2, Awards, and Recognition
9:00 PM Front Gate closes/Dark-out (at end of meeting)
Sunday, May 16
10 AM Check-out Time
Ranch Dining Hall Meals
Breakfast CANCELLED
Lunch 11:30-1:00 PM
Dinner 5:30-7:00 PM
Snack Bar 10 PM - 3:30 AM
Other Important Times
Vendors Building Open 10:00-Noon and 1:30-5:00 PM Monday thru Saturday
All contest entries: Turn in at TSP Registration Table.
ATM entries deadline 5:30 PM Wednesday; Judging 1-5 PM Thursday
Astrophoto & drawing entries deadline 5:30 PM Thursday; Judging 2 PM
Friday
Astrophoto & Drawing Display is in Meeting Hall
TSP Registration Desk is in Meeting Hall. See hours listed above.
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Last Updated April 18, 2010