The Clouds of Andromeda – Dodging Raindrops while Sketching at the Eyepiece
On Monday, our honored guest will be local astronomy guru Mel Bartels. Mel has build some amazing telescopes that allow him to visually observe subtle phenomena that are pervasive but invisible to the vast majority of us. He'll share some of his unique experiences and insights as well as some of his passion for astronomy and visual observation. This is how he describes what he'll be sharing (and what to prepare for).
"Using my sketches and observations of the Andromeda Galaxy that stretch 50 years. I'll talk about what my drawings reveal about our great spiral neighbor and solve an observational controversy. I’ll explain how and why I sketch. I'll share historical sketches of the Andromeda Galaxy, and tell the real story of the day we found the universe, the personalities involved, and how we came to learn that the Great Andromeda Nebula is a galaxy filled with billions of stars, living far outside our own Milky Way. Traveling into the distant past, I'll describe the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy's formation, reveal the role of the Council of Giants, and end with our fate, partly set in motion so long ago and partly up to us. I’ll also have a fun little quiz, so bone up the Andromeda Galaxy."
RCA members who benefit from captioning during meetings suggest the following options for transcription services during online meetings.
For someone using a computer - Web Captioner
For someone using an android phone - Live Transcribe
For someone using an iPhone - Ava
The phone apps can be used while attending an online program on a computer by putting the phone near the computer's speaker. Or to see captions on the computer screen, open Web Captioner in a separate browser window, click "Start Captioning" then adjust the size of the browser windows so that the Web Captioner window sits below the Zoom meeting.
We are open to any further suggestions for both online and in person.