The annual ALCON conference will take place from 26 to 29 July 2023 in Baton Rouge. This will be the first time the amateur astronomy conference will be in Louisiana since its inception in 1939.
According to current information the conference will be at the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center Hotel. Planned speakers include David Eicher and Fred Espenak.
Planned field trips include...
*Highland Road Park Observatory (https://hrpo.lsu.edu//observatory/about.html)
*Irene W. Pennington Planetarium (https://www.lasm.org/planetarium/shows/)
*LIGO (https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/LA/page/about)
*LSU Physics & Astronomy (https://www.lsu.edu/physics/about/observatory.php)
Registration instructions are pending.
More information:
http://alcon2023.org/
ALCON 2023
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Christopher K.
- Posts: 6440
- Joined: October 12th, 2009, 3:28 pm
- Location: Baton Rouge, LA
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Christopher K.
- Posts: 6440
- Joined: October 12th, 2009, 3:28 pm
- Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Re: ALCON 2023
Mail-in (postal) registration for ALCON is open. Online registration should begin within the next few business days. The base price for single registration is ninety-five dollars; a couple is $145 and each youth under eighteen is forty-five dollars. Those prices get the ALCON events at the hotel. Hotel rooms, the banquet and the field trips are extra.
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Christopher K.
- Posts: 6440
- Joined: October 12th, 2009, 3:28 pm
- Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Re: ALCON 2023
Get your postal registration in today! I don't know how much longer that option will be available.
The current schedule shows that the Astronomical League Council will be in town all day on Wednesday the 26th. At 6pm on that day, the buses leave for the Landolt Observatory, with an opening reception for ALCON 2023 beginning there at 7pm. Viewing follows, weather permitting.
Landolt Observatory:
https://www.lsu.edu/physics/about/observatory.php
The current schedule shows that the Astronomical League Council will be in town all day on Wednesday the 26th. At 6pm on that day, the buses leave for the Landolt Observatory, with an opening reception for ALCON 2023 beginning there at 7pm. Viewing follows, weather permitting.
Landolt Observatory:
https://www.lsu.edu/physics/about/observatory.php
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Christopher K.
- Posts: 6440
- Joined: October 12th, 2009, 3:28 pm
- Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Re: ALCON 2023
There is still room for new participants but don't dawdle. The current schedule shows the highlights for Thursday being a presentation by Pranvera Hyseni at 9am and "Boldly Welcoming the Future" at 10am.
About Pranveri Hyseni:
https://www.celestron.com/blogs/team-ce ... era-hyseni
About Pranveri Hyseni:
https://www.celestron.com/blogs/team-ce ... era-hyseni
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Christopher K.
- Posts: 6440
- Joined: October 12th, 2009, 3:28 pm
- Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Re: ALCON 2023
According to the current schedule Friday certainly will be fun at ALCON 2023.
From 11am to 12pm Robert Reeves will be speaking. Reeves took his first lunar photograph in 1959 and began writing articles about astrophotography in 1984. His current passion is increasing the popularity of lunar studies within the amateur community. Asteroid 26591 Robertreeves was named for him.
From 1pm to 2pm the authors of Turn Left at Orion, Dan Davis and Guy Consolmagno, will speak. Turn Left at Orion is one of greatest books ever written for small-telescope owners. It divides observing targets into: the Sun, the Moon and four groups of seasonal lists. For each object the necessary sky conditions and eyepiece powers are indicated. David and Consolmagno give the month span during which the object is best seen and have an "Also in the Neighborhood" section that mentions other nearby objects to spy. Each object is rated by Davis and Consolmagno with one to five "telescopes" based on the how brilliant and breaktaking the view probably will be.
From 2:15pm to 3:15pm Debbie Moran will address light pollution. In 2017 Moran received the International Dark-Sky Association’s Hoag-Robinson Award for her efforts to educate government officials about outdoor lighting issues. (Please refer to the "Light Pollution & Control" section of this Forum for more information about local attempts to eradicate light pollution.)
From 4pm to 5pm the AAVSO will conduct a workshop called "Showing Real-Time Stellar Variability to the Public".
Later on Friday evening the field trip to HRPO occurs.
From 11am to 12pm Robert Reeves will be speaking. Reeves took his first lunar photograph in 1959 and began writing articles about astrophotography in 1984. His current passion is increasing the popularity of lunar studies within the amateur community. Asteroid 26591 Robertreeves was named for him.
From 1pm to 2pm the authors of Turn Left at Orion, Dan Davis and Guy Consolmagno, will speak. Turn Left at Orion is one of greatest books ever written for small-telescope owners. It divides observing targets into: the Sun, the Moon and four groups of seasonal lists. For each object the necessary sky conditions and eyepiece powers are indicated. David and Consolmagno give the month span during which the object is best seen and have an "Also in the Neighborhood" section that mentions other nearby objects to spy. Each object is rated by Davis and Consolmagno with one to five "telescopes" based on the how brilliant and breaktaking the view probably will be.
From 2:15pm to 3:15pm Debbie Moran will address light pollution. In 2017 Moran received the International Dark-Sky Association’s Hoag-Robinson Award for her efforts to educate government officials about outdoor lighting issues. (Please refer to the "Light Pollution & Control" section of this Forum for more information about local attempts to eradicate light pollution.)
From 4pm to 5pm the AAVSO will conduct a workshop called "Showing Real-Time Stellar Variability to the Public".
Later on Friday evening the field trip to HRPO occurs.
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Christopher K.
- Posts: 6440
- Joined: October 12th, 2009, 3:28 pm
- Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Re: ALCON 2023
The field trip to HRPO was a success. I was happy to meet David Eicher, Debbie Moran and (briefly) Guy Consolmagno. The food from Creative Cajun Cooking (https://shop.creativecajuncooking.com/) was very tasty. Melanie Templet and Walt Cooney were there; it was very good to see them again.