TSP 2010 Guest Speakers and Daily Schedule

Guest Speakers

• 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.
  
  
• 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!
  
  
• 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

Other Important Times

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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