Observatory Public Night

“Ozone Hole Recovery: An International Success Story”

is the subject of this month’s Estes Valley Astronomical Society (EVAS) meeting. EVAS in conjunction with The Estes Park Memorial Observatory is offering a free public open house/star night on Saturday July 29th, 7 PM. The goal of EVAS is to promote amateur astronomy and education in the Estes valley.

This illustrated presentation for the general public will begin by reviewing the Ozone layer. This layer of the atmosphere provides natural screening protection around the Earth but the thinning ozone hole near the south pole in the 1980s offered significantly less UV protection. Fortunately, there has been an international effort to preserve our ozone layer. Come and hear a good news climate story – how globally we worked together to save the ozone.

Dr. Suzanne Metlay is full-time faculty in Earth Sciences Education at Western Governors University, a fully online non-profit university founded in 1997 by 19 governors of western states, including Colorado. Previously, Suzanne taught astronomy and geology at Front Range Community College in Longmont and Fort Collins, was Operations Director for Secure World Foundation in Superior, and served as Education Programs Manager at CU-Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium. Suzanne is a past president of the Teacher Education Division of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, and very active on the NAGT Advocacy Committee. Suzanne has an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a PhD in Geology and Planetary Science from the University of Pittsburgh. She was awarded the Antarctica Service Medal from the Department of the Navy and National Science Foundation for fieldwork conducted as a participant in the Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) in 1991.

The observatory is just north of the high school at 1600 Manford Ave.  Park in the teacher’s parking lot adjacent to the observatory. The doors will open at 7:00 pm and the meeting will start at 7:30 pm. The presentation, including a question-and-answer period, lasts about an hour.  After the presentation, weather permitting, we will look through the telescope at various celestial objects. Information about the meeting can be found on the observatory website at: www.AngelsAbove.Org