Astronomy magazine Senior Editor Michael Bakich delivers the first talk at ALCon 2012 with a detailed discussion of the first 150 years of amateur astronomy, Lincolnshire, Illinois, July 4, 2012. // all photos by David J. Eicher
Very early in the morning of July 4, 2012, I replaced the usual routine of spending a fistful of cash on cheap fireworks and instead packed up my drums and left Milwaukee, Wisconsin, bound for Chicago, Illinois. The annual meeting of the
Astronomical League,
ALCon, kicked off at 8 a.m. that morning, despite the national holiday, and welcomed 330 amateur astronomers registered to attend from all over the country. I packed up my drums because in addition to covering this meeting for
Astronomy magazine and speaking later this week, I’m bringing the
Astronomy Magazine Blues Band to play for the meeting’s final day, Saturday, July 7. The meeting is being held at the swanky Marriott Lincolnshire Resort, a sprawling hotel complex and golf club northwest of the city and not far south of the Wisconsin border. (Yes, I had to walk past Soldier Field [home of the Chicago Bears], and I’m not telling whether or not I was wearing my Green Bay Packer underwear.)
Many ALCon attendees trekked to Chicago to hear lectures on asteroids and meteorites at the Field Museum, July 4, 2012.
The meeting kicked off with welcoming words from the league’s president, Carroll Iorg, and a short summary of the meeting to come from Vice President John Goss. The two local chairpersons, Dan Joyce and the ever-energetic Audrey Fischer, then welcomed the crowd, assembled bright and early in a large hotel conference room.
The opening talk then commenced, with
Astronomy Senior Editor Michael Bakich describing in vivid detail the history of the first 150 years of amateur astronomy in the United States, beginning with the organization of the co-host
Chicago Astronomical Society in 1862. Michael gave a broad overview of the whole history of enthusiast astronomy in America with many events and personalities described.
The audience then received a fascinating update on
Astronomers Without Borders, the group that shares astronomy expertise and equipment, from its leader Mike Simmons.
The oldest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, Chicago’s Adler Planetarium, stands tall in the Chicago heat, July 4, 2012.
We then boarded buses and made the hourlong ride into downtown Chicago, which is a truly magnificent city, making our way to the famous
Field Museum of Natural History to hear two superb talks on asteroids, meteorites, and their relationships, with emphasis on analyzing cosmic dust and the origins of the solar system. This special treat featured a tag-team of Philipp Heck, assistant curator of meteorites from the Field Museum, and asteroid expert Mark Hammergren from Adler Planetarium. What a spectacular treasure-trove of information this was!
The group of at least 150 who traveled to Chicago then experienced
Adler Planetarium, the Western Hemisphere’s oldest such institution, complete with numerous amazing exhibits and a detailed sky show. It was an outstanding afternoon.
It was then back to the hotel to move a whole drum kit, PA system, cables, mics, accessories, and more into the hotel room. And then fireworks and observing outside. What an unusual few days await, but in the meantime, be sure to check out all my pictures from ALCon 2012 in the
Reader Photo Gallery.