General Meeting for October 12^th 2018.

Our guest speaker will be Paul Delaney. Paul has been a guest of the club several times and his talks are always informative and educational. This time around, Paul will be speaking about variable stars and binary star systems.

Stars have social lives too!

Stellar evolution has generated (almost) all the elements in the universe with the notable exceptions of hydrogen and helium.  This process has allowed for planet formation and the existence of life.  Yet despite their pivotal place in the grand scheme of the universe, we talk very little about stars let alone their habit of forming in multiple associations and clusters. This talk will focus on the 101 of star formation and reveal the social habits of stars especially in regards binary star systems.

About Paul Delaney

Paul Delaney was born in South Australia and received his Bachelor of Science degree from the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia in 1978 and his Master of Science from the University of Victoria, British Columbia in 1981. Since that time, he has worked as a nuclear physicist for Atomic Energy of Canada and a support astronomer at McGraw Hill Observatory near Tucson, Arizona.

He has been a member of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at York University since 1986. He is a Senior Lecturer teaching a variety of astronomy related courses to science and non-science students. In addition he is the Coordinator of the campus Astronomical Observatory which offers a teaching laboratory environment for science students studying astronomy and extensive Public Outreach access to the community. Since 2002 he has been the Director of the Division of Natural Science, an academic unit that exposes nearly 12,000 undergraduate students annually to the world of science. He was the Master of Bethune College, one of York’s 8 undergraduate student Colleges, from 1994 until 2005.

He is a passionate educator and delights in discussing the wonders of the universe with people of all ages. Along with his undergraduate Observing Team, he coordinates an extensive Public Outreach program in astronomy including hosting a 1 hour internet radio program ‘YorkUniverse” every Monday evening (on astronomy.fm). He considers himself an amateur as well as professional astronomer and has been interested in astronomy and space science for as long as he can remember. He has been the recipient of York University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering Teaching Award (1991), a ‘top 10’ finalist in TV Ontario’s Best Lecturer competition (2005), a recipient of the University Wide Teaching Award (2006), was the winner of the Royal Canadian Institute’s 2010 Sanford Flemming Medal for outstanding contributions to the public understanding of science amongst Canadians and the 2015 recipient of the Qilak Award from the Canadian Astronomical Society recognizing his ongoing commitment to the public awareness and understanding of astronomy.

Elections

The October 12, 2018 Annual General Meeting marks the end of another fiscal year for the club and as such it is time to select our council for the upcoming year. Posted below are the positions that need to be filled and the proposed nominees.

• Chair: John Geauvreau
• Second Chair: Mike Jefferson
• Secretary: Jim Wamsley
• Treasurer: Ann Tekatch
• Recorder: Matthew Mannering
• Membership: Les Webb
• Education: Vacant
• Observing: Steve Germann
• Webmaster: Christopher Strejch
• Editor: Bob Christmas
• Publicity: Mario Carr

Please nominate a candidate of your choice for any one or more positions. You may nominate yourself. If you feel that you have something to contribute to the club, this is the time to stand and be counted! If you want to be more involved with the activities of the club but don’t want to be a council member, we are always looking for good people that want to help out in any way. We call these people Councillors-at-Large. Let us know if you are interested in being an HAA Councillors-at-Large (not an elected position).

Eligibility to vote: An Individual or Honorary member in good standing is entitled to one vote. A Family membership in good standing entitles two family members to one vote each.

Place and Time

We’ll be meeting at The Hamilton Spectator Building located at 44 Frid St, near the junction of Highway 403 and Main St West in Hamilton. Starting time is at 7:30pm. Admission is free and everyone is welcome!

Door Prizes

There will be a draw for door prizes at the meeting and a free door prize ticket to all who arrive before the 7:30 start time!

Food Share Donations

Donations of non-perishable food for the Hamilton Food Share program will be collected at this meeting. Please drop off any items at the drop-box located near the entrance of the auditorium. All donations gratefully accepted and thanks to your generosity we’ve collected thousands of pounds of food since we began. Let’s keep up the great work as the need continues.

Photo Credit: Cepheid Variable Stars, ESO/VVV consortium/D. Minniti