Program: "2025: The Year in Review - Astronomy/Weather"

2025 Central New York State weather summary and 2025 review of astronomical news.

Presented by Perry Pezzolanella and David Bishop

Program: "Members' Show 'n Tell"

Various projects, excursions, aurora, etc.

Presented by MVAS Members

Program: "Are We Alone? NASA's Search for Life Outside the Solar System"

In the last three decades, the explosion of exoplanet discoveries have demonstrated that, on average, every star in the Milky Way hosts a planetary system. With so many planets now discovered, our next challenge is characterizing the atmospheres of those planets to assess their potential habitability and search for the signs of active biology. This talk will highlight recent exoplanet discoveries and describe the role that the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) is playing in developing the science, hardware, and training the next generations of scientists and engineers for NASA’s upcoming flagship exoplanet mission, the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). It will describe the HWO mission and how the University of Colorado is developing hardware on small satellites and rocket missions, and how they use these missions to train the students who will lead NASA’s future missions like HWO and beyond.

Presented by Dr. Kevin France, PhD, University of Colorado at Boulder

Program: "Astrophysical Computations: a physics tool"

Dr. Powell leads us down the historical road to present computer modeling of galaxies and Lambda Cold Dark Matter.

Presented by Dr. Johnny Powell, Reed College

Program: "Dawn of a Rock Star: An Amateur Asteroid Hunter’s Journey as Viewed on the Ho Tung Visualization Lab Dome"

Presented by Dr. Tom Balonek, Colgate and Perry Pezzolanella, MVAS

Program: "Astronauts, Rockets, Robots… and the International Space Station"

We'll take a trip to the International Space Station. During our fun adventure to the world’s premier research laboratory, we will learn what it is like to live and work in space, how astronauts travel to the station, and take a look at some examples of robotic testing and the robots that assist astronauts and ground teams.

Presented by Carol Higgins, NASA Solar System Ambassador

Program: "Pluto: The Heart of the Solar System"

Presented by Perry Pezzolanella

Program: "The Hubble Space Telescope - 35 Years of Science"

Presented by Dr. Valerie Rapson

Program: "Oh, Say Can You See?"

A discussion of observing site selection considerations and geographic and atmospheric conditions that can affect how well we can observe the sky.

Presented by Gordon Fesenger, MVAS

Program: "E.E. Barnard and His Dark Nebula"

Presented by Larry McHenry, Amateur Astronomer, Pittsburgh, PA

Program: "Astrophysics with the Naked Eye: How Meteor Showers Were Discovered"

Presented by Steven Fentress, former director of the Strasenburgh Planetarium in Rochester, NY

Program: "2024: The Year in Review - Astronomy & Mohawk Valley Weather"

Presented by Dave Bishop and Perry Pezzolanella