Mega Meet is postponed

due to unfavorable weather forecast

LVAAS General Meeting and Members' Picnic

Saturday July 12, 5 p.m. at LVAAS South Mountain Headquarters, Allentown PA

Rain date Sunday July 13, 5 p.m.

 

Speaker is in person
 

"Climbing the Cosmic Distance Ladder"

  

Featuring Linda Prince

How do we know that the Andromeda Galaxy is 2.5 million light-years away from us?  Did you know that the Earth-Sun distance (the astronomical unit) was unknown until it was measured by observing the transit of Venus in 1761?  Our knowledge about cosmology would not be possible without being able to measure distances in space.  Because of the vast size of the Universe, distance measurements cannot be made directly, but must be made indirectly, using smaller distances as rulers to measure larger ones, like climbing up the rungs of a ladder. This talk will summarize the story of measuring cosmic distances, from the time of the ancient Greeks to the present day. 

 

Linda Prince has had an interest in science since childhood and has been an amateur astronomer since she purchased her first telescope about 30 years ago.  When she couldn't find all those little objects in the sky with her scope, she sought help from an astronomy club on Long Island and now enjoys membership here at LVAAS.

 

 

Prospective new members who wish to attend the meeting should email membership@lvaas.org.