Monthly meetings are held on the third Friday of each month in the Roy Smith Theatre from September to May. The public is welcome to attend. Registration is not needed and the event is free.

On Friday, January 26, AAI member Dr. Bill Griffeth will describe Paranal Observatory’s four 8.2-meter telescopes, their attached instruments, the technologies used, and research results obtained. Working together, the four scopes become the Very Large Telescope at this great observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Brief introductions to adaptive optics, spectroscopy, diffraction, and interference will be provided. The presentation will include many images made by Paranal instruments as well as several photos and videos of the telescopes and their instruments taken in July by Dr. Griffeth during a private tour and overnight visit.

Paranal Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert is the site of the Very Large Telescope: a set of four 8.2-meter telescopes that can work independently or together. Three sophisticated imagers and/or spectrographs are attached to each scope. By using adaptive optics, the telescopes and their imagers match the Hubble Space Telescope in image quality. The telescopes can also operate together as either a single 16-meter telescope (VLT) or as a long-baseline interferometer (VLTI). 

Coming on May 4th – Astronomy Day! Details will be forthcoming!

AAI is celebrating 75 years as an astronomy club! Sperry Observatory is open to the public on Fridays from 7:30 pm - 10:30 pm for observing (weather permitting). A presentation is given at 8:30 pm on an astronomy related topic.  Register at the entrance to the Observatory.

X