Around August 5th, the Mars Science Lab probe will land on Mars. The event can be viewed via video feed from NASA. The site below is where the event can be found on or about that date. It is possible that you may have to search for Mars Science Lab. You can see the animation on this site now.
We (ASET) received a note from Michael Bieler and wanted to spread the word about his grand opening on September 29th at 9:00 AM. Astronomics is the sponsor of Cloudy Nights which most astronomy enthusiasts enjoy on a regular basis. Please make an effort to visit them in Norman, Oklahoma to show support for astronomy.
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New Store Showroom
My name is Michael Bieler, owner of astronomicsin Norman, Oklahoma, and the world’s largest free on-line astronomy forum Cloudy Nights. I was wondering if it would be alright for you to mention the Grand Opening of our newastronomics store in Norman in your newsletter or at your next meeting. astronomics has the largest telescope showroom in the U.S. (over 4000 square feet), with over 120 telescopes and 200 eyepieces on display, and much more.
While we are open now, the date for the official Grand Opening is September 29th at 9:00 AM. We plan for it to be an all-day affair, ending with a sidewalk astronomy/star party involving the local high school astronomy clubs and hopefully the OKC astronomy club or any other club that wants to make a showing.
The Norman North Astronomy Club advisor has already committed to manning the solar scopes during the day for a sidewalk astronomy and man scopes at night for an outreach star party.
We will have in-store sales and door prizes. TeleVue, for one, has already donated over $2000 worth of Ethos eyepieces in a carry bag as a door prize. Many manufacturers have agreed to come and talk about their products while displaying what they can do. TeleVue, Celestron, Meade, Lunt, Explore Scientific, and others are making their way down to Norman and I expect to see more and more door prizes pop up soon. We will update our website, CloudyNights.com, as well as our facebook page as soon as more information becomes available.
Alan Traino, the head of NEAF, will also be dropping by. He’s scouting out locations for a possible central U.S. trade show/science exposition similar to NEAF. A good turnout would go a long way to convince him to set up a yearly show in Oklahoma that would be convenient for all astronomers in the central states to attend to see the latest and greatest from astronomy equipment manufacturers.
Any mention of our Grand Opening that you might want to pass along to your club members would be appreciated. We will also send updates to you about
additional manufacturers’ door prizes and such if that is all right with you as well. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at mike at astronomics.com or 800-422-7876.
I know that some of you live extremely far away from Oklahoma and will not be able to make a the trip. However, I would like to pass on a discount we provide astronomy club member that you all might not be aware of. Some people are not aware that astronomics owns the astronomy forum www.cloudynights.com. As a thank you for the support the community has given us over the past 33 years, we offer a discount on almost all of our products. All we need is for astronomy club members who give us their club affiliation when they place an order over the phone or via the internet. Due to manufacturer restrictions the discount will not show up in the basket, but will be on the invoice that is mailed to you. As always, feel free to contact us about any questions you have about a potential discount or technical issues.
