This weekend, April 17–18, the Rockland Astronomy Club and Astronomy magazine will host America’s biggest astronomy trade show, the Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF). Senior Editor Richard Talcott will be leaving in just a few hours; Publisher Kevin Keefe, Advertising Sales Manager Jeff Felbab, Advertising Sales Representative Ken Kozerski, and I’ll join them in the next few days. Rounding out the entourage will be the winner of Astronomy’s 2010 Youth Essay Contest, 11-year-old Adam Atanas, who won an all-expense-paid trip for his essay on what he loves best about astronomy.
Rich wanted to leave early to get a good look at the 2010 Northeast Astro-Imaging Conference, on Thursday and Friday, also put on by the Rockland Astronomy Club. Both events are in Suffern, New York, and will feature guest speakers and workshops to entertain and inform just about any astronomy enthusiast. The speakers range from NASA scientists to telescope-makers to TV stars (Geoffrey Notkin and Steve Arnold, better known as the Meteorite Men), and the workshops include a solar sketching seminar and one detailing how amateurs can contribute to the science of astronomy. The main organizer, Alan Traino, really did a great job setting up the forum, and we all look forward to working with him in the future.
Also going to NEAF, of course, will be thousands of attendees curious about the latest advances in astronomy. If you’re coming, feel free to seek us out on the convention floor (Astronomy will have its own booth) and say hi in person. And if you can’t make it, Rich will be blogging every day, and I’ll be sending tweets along with the occasional blog. Also, be on the lookout for videos featuring the leaders of almost every major telescope and imaging company, along with our written coverage when we return. So if you have any requests for us — questions you’d specifically like asked or a lesser-known company you’d love to see featured — be sure to tell us in the comments.
Hope to see you there!