Reading Astronomy magazine for many years, I saw ads promoting the Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) at Rockland Community College in Suffern, NY. I had never given though about attending because I thought people just purchase astronomy equipment. In recent years, several people had told me the event had other activities in addition to buying equipment.
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Earlier this year, I carefully read the 2014 ad and noticed there would be speakers and magazine publishers. I decided to attend the 2014 edition of the event.
After paying the entry fee and walking to the balcony’s edge, I couldn't believe the Rockland Community College gym was almost wall-to-wall astronomy-related equipment, dominated by telescopes of different sizes. I walked around looking at telescopes displayed and taking free magazines. I went the Astronomy magazine booth and spoke with the editorial staff, including the editor Dave Eicher, about the possible discovery of a moon orbiting a planet outside our solar system two days prior to this event.
While looking at the vendors' booths, I spotted "Springer", a name of a vendor selling astronomy-related books. I liked the company’s symbol, a knight shaped as a piece on a chess demonstration board ("Springer" means knight in German).
After looking at the vendors’ booths, I went to the iOptron Theater, located at the far end of the gym, and sat in on the last twenty minutes of Dr. Ken Kremer's lecture on Commercial Space and the dependency on Russia to launch our astronauts. During the Q and A session, I asked if we had a backup plan if Russia decided not to ship any more engines for the Atlas 5’s first stage. Dr. Kremer did not know if the Atlas 5’s manufacturer had any contingency plans. Ironically, the Atlas 5 was used to launch a National Reconnaissance Office spacecraft on April 10.
After Dr. Kremer's lecture, I spoke with a lady connected with the OSIRIS Rex project, which would attempt to bring home a sample of asteroid Bennu. I then saw Joseph Martinez, an amateur astronomer whom I met at last year’s Spacefest held on the USS Intrepid. He used remote control to move his four-wheeled, microwave oven-sized rover on the gym floor. Joseph said he was building a rover with real solar panels. Mr. Martinez, who lives in the Bronx, also said he would set up his telescope on elevated subway stations in the Bronx and Queens to spread the word on astronomy. Joseph said people, especially kids, were fascinated looking at celestial bodies.
Since the lunch line was very long, I went outdoors, where other telescopes were set up, to the view the sun and Venus (believe it or not). It was a beautiful day. The outdoors greeter wore a Boston Bruins jersey. We discussed our teams' chances in the playoffs (I'm a NY Ranger fan).
While viewing the sun through one of the telescopes, I saw tiny dots that were larger than the earth!! I also saw a prominence, shaped like a circle, touching the sun at the 3 o' clock position.
I then went to the Celestron Theater to listen to Dr. Garik Israelian’s lecture. He discussed the inverse relationship between the amount of lithium a star had and the number of exoplanets in that star’s system. Despite not understanding some of the details, I thought Dr. Israelian’s lecture was good.
The next lecture and final activity I saw at NEAF was a Q and A session by Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, who was shown on a giant screen. The theater was packed. Dr. Tyson teased a 13-year-girl whose first name was "Moon." I enjoyed the Q and A that ran a little past the scheduled ending time of the lecture.
I could not stay for Dr. Alan Stern lecture on the New Horizons spacecraft, Pluto, and the other Kuiper Belt objects.
I really had a great time and had one question while going home - Why didn't I carefully read past NEAF ads and attend the events?
