The years 2000-2010 were the golden age of amateur asteroid discovery, when it was possible to discover multiple asteroids on a single night with amateur-level equipment. Dellinger will tell the story of his years in the Fort Bend Astronomy Club’s asteroid team and show exactly how they did it. They were one of the more successful amateur teams in the world, with several hundred asteroids to their credit. Along the way they had a few adventures, so Joe will have some good stories to include as well.

At the Novice Session
Director Bram Weisman will show us the various ways to collimate or line up the optics of a Newtonian telescope. Newtonians are great for their simplicity and ease of setup but have to be collimated much more frequently than other types of telescopes. If you have a Newtonian or think one is in your future, this talk is a must.