Al’s Busy Fall Schedule!

Autumn Starfest Review
Last SaturNday, Al Nagler began his talk at the Amateur Astronomers Association (AAA) of New York’s Autumn Starfest in Central Park by reminding the audience he “grew up in this area” and saying it was “magical to be here.” Standing next to a 133” diagonal screen, he proceeded to explain how a city kid developed a love for astronomy that began at the old Hayden Planetarium – located just a 15-minute walk from where he was speaking.  That passion for astronomy led to a job creating optical systems for the Apollo’s lunar landing simulator, which ultimately served as the inspiration to develop optical products for amateur astronomers.

Afterwards, Al had a Tele Vue-NP101is on a Gibraltar HD4 mount setup for people to view through using various Ethos, DeLite, and Nagler eyepieces. Due to the clouds, deep-space objects were hit and miss. When the clouds were dense enough to obscure the Moon and the bright planets, views of the surrounding buildings were shown instead. Said Al afterwards:

I love sharing with AAA members and meeting so many interesting people at all interest levels. While the celestial viewing was not exactly “stellar” :), having marvels of architectural beauty surrounding the park gave inspiring experiences of what a telescope can picture.

Al was joined in Central Park by Tele Vue’s Rick Scheck and Rick’s teenage son Robbie. Robbie got into the swing of things and assisted people looking through the scope by swapping eyepieces for them and centering targets. Being his first star-party, Robbie enjoyed having conversations with people who knew so much about astronomy and was “amazed (at) how much detail these pieces of equipment can get from so far away.” But, the thing that surprised him most was that the Tele Vue-NP101is he was operating was the same model used to confirm Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Also, congratulations to Omri for winning the Nagler 13mm Door Prize!

NJAA Open House & Astronomy Flea Market  on September 29th
Al will be the Special Guest Speaker at a free event, on the grounds of the New Jersey Astronomical Association’s (NJAA) observatory in Voorhees State Park, High Bridge, New Jersey on September 29th, 2018. If you missed his “I Thank My Lucky Stars” talk in Central Park, you can catch it at 1:30 pm at the Flea Market. The Open House will run from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and feature solar observing, food, equipment vendors, speakers, and tours of the 26” Newtonian scope (one of the largest publicly accessible amateur scopes in the east). Tele Vue has donated a 13-mm Nagler eyepiece as one of the door prizes at this event. 

Al will be allowing people to view through a specially modified Ethos-SX eyepiece that simulates what the astronauts saw through the windows of the Lunar Module.

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space: Family Astronomy Night on October 20th
As part of the International Observe the Moon Night celebration, there will be a free event on October 20th, 2018 at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in Manhattan from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. NASA Science Visualizer Ernie Wright will give a presentation on using imaging data acquired by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter at 7:30 pm.

Al will have a scope setup to view through on the flight deck after the presentation (weather permitting). There will also be shows inside a pop-up planetarium. Registration required (see link).