On the road: Northeast Astronomy Forum, April 29, 2012

It’s Sunday night and I am sitting here absolutely, completely, utterly exhausted. And I know that many of the 4,000+ people who attended the Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) this year are feeling exactly the same way.

What a glorious time we all had talking, walking, eyeballing astronomical equipment, delivering talks, shooting videos, and holding meetings. I don’t know that I’ve ever gone through such a frenzied day at an astronomy meeting, and I’ve been to many dozens in my lifetime. As soon as I return to the Astronomy magazine office outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and catch my breath, and as soon as friends and colleagues all get their feet back on the ground, we will have much to report.

Suffice it for today to say the Astronomy Foundation (AF) held its annual meeting this morning. It was scheduled to last 90 minutes, with the typical annual business and committee reports from a long list of volunteer superstars who are starting to make big goals of the AF come true. Instead, the meeting lasted more than two hours, and we left some things yet to be discussed. After Secretary Rick Hedrick compiles the notes from this long session, there will be much to report. Wheels are turning and commitments have been made for several big events this year that will spread astronomical outreach to parts of this country in some very big ways. There’s also an opportunity for assembling a group that will help with compiling standards for the telescope industry — in the United States at first, worldwide to follow. More on that coming, too.

I spent the last part of the morning and early afternoon in a flurry of talking to readers, interested volunteers who are hearing more about the AF and want to help, and friends and associates in the telescope business.

Over the coming weeks, you will see a burst of videos shot by me and with the assistance of Jeff Felbab (and sometimes with our Astronomy magazine 2012 Youth Essay Contest winner Jenna Elliott!) showcasing lots of new products.

I will be telling you more about the school observatory project being worked on by Caroline Moore, one of the youngest people ever to discover a supernova, who needs help from the community of amateur astronomers to make the project go.

I’ll also tell you about a major New York City stargazing event that is planned for late July.

And many more bits, too.

By midafternoon, I wandered into the lecture hall to a packed house listening to the latter stages of the two-hour talk given by my great friends Geoff Notkin and Steve Arnold, the Science Channel’s Meteorite Men. Great stories and great laughs abounded.

I then gave the final talk of the year, “Astronomy’s New Frontier,” that summarized current thinking on the Sun’s fate, our understanding of Mars and the Moon, how life on Earth will end, the cosmic distance scale, dark matter, dark energy, the structure of the Milky Way, extrasolar planets, the size and age of the universe, and how the cosmos will end. I was amazed that readers of the magazine and interested parties excited by the AF stayed and asked 45 minutes worth of questions — everything from digital delivery of magazines to how to get generations X and Y engaged in the astronomy hobby, to the practical limitations to interstellar travel and life in the universe.

What a tremendous day. To all of you who came up to me, talked, asked questions, and wanted to engage the magazine and the AF, I thank you. What a great response and a great day, and I can tell you that great things are coming. In the meantime, check out all the images from my trip in our Reader Photo Gallery.

Related blogs:
On the road: Northeast Astronomy Forum, April 28, 2012
On the road: Northeast Astro Imaging Conference, April 27, 2012
On the road: Northeast Astro Imaging Conference, April 26, 2012