The June 2017 edition of the Huachuca Astronomy Club newsletter, Nightfall, is now available for download. Submissions for next month’s issue can be sent to , our Nightfall editor
Margaret is a PhD candidate and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona. She has a B.S. in Astronomy and Physics from Northern Arizona University. She works with planetary image data to characterize the surface age of the polar ice deposits on Mars and numerical models to describe ice stability on Ceres, and is a member of the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera and Dawn at Ceres science teams.
Abstract: The Dawn spacecraft has been in orbit around Ceres since March 2015, revolutionizing our understanding of the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system. This talk will focus on new discoveries and new mysteries from Dawn’s exploration of Ceres, including the anomalously bright areas on the surface.
Dr. Hunter has been an amateur astronomer since 1950. He built and operates the Grasslands Observatory near Sonoita, Arizona. In 1987, Dr. Tim Hunter and Dr. David Crawford founded the International Dark-Sky Association, Inc., to promote quality outdoor lighting and combat the effects of light pollution. He is the chair of the board of trustees for the Planetary Science Institute and past president of the board of directors of the International Dark-Sky Association. In addition, he is a retired professor and former chief of the Department of Radiology in the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona. He earned an M.D. degree from Northwestern University in 1968. He also received a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the University of Arizona, and he recently completed a Masters degree in Astronomy from Swinburne University. Dr Hunter holds a number of prestigious awards including to 2003 Astronomical League Award.
The speaker will be former HAC member Glenn Minuth.
Glenn’s talk is entitled “An Update on SOFIA: NASA’s Airborne Telescope”.