This premier Midwest convention has world class speakers, a telescope making competition, an astroimaging contest, Digistar planetarium shows, vendors, swap meet, raffle, and great door prizes, followed by a BBQ & star party!
Additionally, we are pleased to be the host of Greatcon 2008, the Astronomical League Great Lakes Region annual convention.

Friday June 13th at 6:00pm to 9:00pm

Saturday June 14th 9:00am to 5:00pm followed by the BBQ & Star Party

Terry Mann - Terry is a regular speaker at Apollo Rendezvous and this year is no exception. Terry is back to talk about The International Year of Astronomy (IYA) and how the Astronomical League is celebrating in 2009.
Attendees can look forward to a very interesting talk as well as updates and happenings within the
Astronomical League.
Terry Mann is President of the Astronomical League. Terry has served as President and Vice-President of the Miami Valley Astronomical Society. Her service with the MVAS and her dedication to astronomy earned her the club’s highest honor, the Kepler Award. Terry’s bio is a virtual who’s-who in astronomy. Her memberships include the American Astronomical Society, Astronomical League, and Astronomical Society of the Pacific and the International Dark Sky Association .

Dr. Dale L. Partin --- "The Hubble Constant: a Historical Perspective"
Dr. Partin’s talk concentrates on the period of astronomical research from 1929 to the present, which just happens to coincide with our theme for AR this year .
Dr. Partin has degrees in physics, a PhD in electrical engineering, and has worked as a scientist for 30 years. He is a past-secretary and current member of the Warren Astronomical Society in Michigan. He is also a fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of theIEEE . 

Tom Trusock --- "Latest and Greatest Tools for Observing the Universe Around You"Tom has been interested in astronomy since he was a child in the early 70?s. He has been an active observer since he first borrowed his father's binoculars for that initial captivating look at the night sky. He considers his amateur career to have really begun over decade ago, when his passion gradually turned into an obsession.

For the last several years Tom has been closely involved with the amateur astronomy website CloudyNights.com. Tom has been associated with CN since it was a two man show Tom, and initial CN founder Allister St. Claire. As well as being an early author, he was one of the original members of the peer-review committee, and helped to maintain and develop the website into what it is today. Tom has, as of early winter 2006, contributed nearly 100 articles. While he is perhaps best known for his extensive online equipment reviews, his articles have covered various other topics ranging from outreach to his very popular "Small Wonders" series a semi-regular tour of the night sky.

Scott lives in southern Florida and has been photographing nature and the heavens for over twenty-five years. His photographs have been published internationally in many books, textbooks and periodicals, and have appeared in various museum and galley exhibits. He is the author of the recently published book, Photoshop Astronomy, and is a frequent lecturer on image processing topics.
This hands-on workshop will focus on how to process digital SLR astro images, taking darks, calibration, stacking (all using ImagePlus), then how to use Photoshop to continue processing the images through to final form. It will take the images step-by-step through the entire image procesing sequence. Materials will be handed out that include a course booklet and CD-R containing example images.
PARTICIPANTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO BRING THEIR LAPTOP COMPUTERS (WITH PHOTOSHOP VERSION 7 OR LATER INSTALLED) TO WORK THROUGH THE EXAMPLES IN REAL TIME AS THE TECHNIQUES ARE PRESENTED.
Scott will also be presenting a beautiful presentation in the Space Theater entitled "Earth From Above". This presentation will be of artistic satellite imagery of the Earth as well as some of Scott’s own photographs of various subjects including awesome volcano images.

Enjoy the "200 Planets & Counting" show produced by the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery.

As always, we will be holding the AR astrophotography exhibit this year. Given the explosive growth in amateur astrophotography we’d like to encourage astrophotographers of every level and medium to participate. We’d particularly like to encourage beginners and those using some of the wonderful entry-level cameras to bring examples of their work to share. For this reason we’re making entry into the astroimaging competition optional so you can feel free to simply show your favorite pictures without having them judged. Some more advanced astrophotographers may also choose to simply show their work. You may also consider bringing astrophotography equipment (or pictures of equipment) to share; for example I’ll be bringing a couple of my twin cameras I’ve been showing on Cloudy Nights. (Please, no actual cameras or other small expensive items that are easy to misplace.)

Please feel free to bring images in any format; but only those in print media or static digital display (no slide shows) can be entered in the competition. We’d also like to encourage participants to bring as many images as they wish, but display space is limited so please let us know in advance if you require space greater than 2x4 feet (about ½ of a display table). Also, if you plan on displaying more than 12 images in any one category (wide field, solar, lunar, planetary, deepsky) please select no more than 3 for inclusion in the competition (we’d like to start with what you think are your best images).

Since it’s difficult to know how many and what types of photographs will be entered into the contest the judges have to retain the right to be flexible as to the final awards and categories, but we anticipate issuing awards in the areas of solar, lunar, planetary, deepsky, and most popular (selected by attendee ballot). Other categories may include beginner, DSLR, CCD, webcam, film, and unconventional (cell phone?). If you would like to have descriptions accompany your images we encourage you to prepare those ahead of time. If you are entering images in the contest (including most popular) please be sure to pick up image description and numbering labels in the astrophotography exhibit area and have your images in place early. Judging will be between 12 and 1 o’clock and most popular ballots will be collected in the early afternoon to give enough time to prepare award certificates.

For more information please contact the AR coordinators at ar2008@woh.rr.com or linda.weiss@mvas.org. Pre-registration Information and form

The Miami Valley Astronomical Society is pleased to announce its annual Telescope Fair which will be held on June 14th during the Apollo Rendezvous. The purpose of the fair is to carry on the long tradition of developing astronomical instruments for and amongst amateur astronomers.

One aspect of the Telescope Fair is to encourage innovation and excellence through competition. A second aspect of the fair is to educate and disseminate knowledge gained through the experience of the contestants.

Long before commercial telescopes were readily available amateurs were building their own telescopes and accessories. Amateur telescope makers have contributed much to the hobby of astronomy. We want to recognize those individuals who are carrying on that tradition by hand building their telescopes and astronomical instruments.

With commercial telescopes seeing widespread distribution at great values, modifying them has become a way of carrying on the ATM spirit. It seems like no telescope escapes modification of some sort. Because of that we would like to reward those who are developing and perfecting ways of enhancing commercial scopes and improving their performance.

With the advent of digital photography, it seems everyone has an interest in astrophotography. New for 2008, we’re adding Astrophotography Setups to our list of categories. A great deal of time, effort, and financial resources can go into the setting up of a good astrophotography platform. The Astrophotography Setup contest is not so much about gear, but about how this gear is put together in innovative ways to allow for the successful capture of astronomical wonders. Special considerations will be given to those setups that push the boundaries of performance, cost, and innovation.

A special note: The Astrophotography Setup area will be cordoned off to protect your gear from unwanted exploration.

To summarize, the Categories are as follows

1. Hand Built Telescopes
2. Hand Built or Modified Astronomical Accessories
3. Modified Commercial Telescopes
4. Astrophotography Setups

Juried judging will take place on Saturday, June 14th. Please have scopes and accessories at the display area no later than 10:30 AM Saturday morning. The display area will be in the Tait Auditorium which is located on the second floor of the museum. (See here for a floor plan: http://www.boonshoftmuseum.org/floorPlan.html ) There is a street level entrance on the second floor to make access easier. Also, the area is secured should participants desire to set up scopes on Friday night.

When you arrive on Saturday, please sign in with the Telescope Fair coordinator, Patrick Johnson, and select the category you would like to display in. At that time, you will be instructed as to when the judging will occur. Please be present with your entry during the juried judging to answer questions. Popular vote judging will occur throughout the day.

If you do not have a written description of your entry, you will be asked to write up a note card giving a brief explanation of any special features of your entry. This will be placed with your setup so observers can have a better idea of what your entry is all about.

Announcements of the winners will be made at the Apollo Rendezvous’ awards presentations at the end of the event on Saturday and will be included in the July issue of MVAS’ Amateur Astronomer newsletter.

A special note: If you should desire to only display your telescope and not participate in the competition, you are very welcome to do so.

Apollo Rendezvous wouldn’t be what it is without door prizes. The number of door prizes given away at AR ranks near the top of any similar event in the United States. Door Prizes will be drawn at the conclusion of our speaker sessions on Saturday.

We plan on having several raffles this year so be sure to bring some extra cash and take a chance on what are always fabulous prizes. Beyond our usual large prize offerings, we will be preparing astronomical gift baskets that are sure to peak your interests.

Let’s face it, all of us love to come to shop the vendor area and we with the MVAS and AR know the importance of good vendor participation. You asked for it and we hope to give it to you MORE VENDORS! We are soliciting vendors from all over to come and be a part of our event. Many more Vendors demonstrating equipment too! Watch our website for an updated list of participating vendors.
Confirmed Vendors attending this Year:

A box lunch will be available for purchase when registering in
advance. Please see the registration lunch order form for choices.

Saturday evening we will close AR once again with our traditional BBQ and Stargaze. Come out to our dark sky site at John Byran State Park Observatory and take a look at one of the finest amateur operated and funded observatories in the area. The food is great and the company is even better. We will be cutting a cake in celebration of the MVAS’s 90th anniversary. This is a grand cap to AR that you will not want to miss.
The park campground is 1/3 mile from the observatory and space is limited for light camping on the observatory grounds Saturday night.

Linda Weiss
Apollo Rendezvous Chairperson
e-mail: AR2008@woh.rr.com

ON-LINE REGISTRATION IS CLOSED. You can only register at the door.