Astronomical presentations are held at each of ASGH’s business meetings, our in-person meetings are open to the public and anyone interested is encouraged to participate. Speakers have included current or former members, astronomy faculty and graduate students from area universities, or invited guests. Topics for these presentations, shown below, are wide-ranging and are chosen to be of interest to amateur astronomers of all levels.
ASGH business meetings take place on the 3rd Wednesday of the month from September through May. Meetings start at 7:30 pm.
We are continuing to hold hybrid meetings with online participation for members via Zoom and in-person participation at:
Rocky Hill Community Center
Room 1C
761 Old Main Street
Rocky Hill CT 06067
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Click here for directions
September 17, 2025
Speaker: Greg Shanos, PharmD – A Century of Relativity: Einstein’s Theory of Relativity Demystified’
The year 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the General Theory of Relativity. This presentation was updated to include the images of the black holes in M87 and Sagittarius A as well as the LIGO detection of gravity waves. Greg will explain the Special Theory as well as the General Theory of Relativity. Applications of the General Theory to Black Holes, Worm Holes, Einstein crosses, Gravity Waves and Cosmology will also be discussed. To quote Einstein: “Everything should be made as simple as possible but not simpler”. That is Greg’s goal for this presentation.
October 15, 2025
The October meeting will include two speakers:
The first will be ASGH member Lucas Branco. Lucas will speak about a service project he is doing which consists of refurbishing a number of ‘orphan’ telescopes to get them into an acceptable condition to donate to area schools. He will tell us how many telescopes he has (or how many parts of telescopes he has), what components are needed to complete the largest number of telescopes, and how much member help he hopes to get to make his project even more of a success and get more telescopes to area schools to spread knowledge, interest and excitement about astronomy to children who may not otherwise have this opportunity.
The second speaker will be our ASGH Club President, Chris Markiewicz, who will give a short talk on the Vera Rubin Observatory. “Located on a mountaintop in Chile, the nearly-complete Vera C. Rubin Observatory will capture the cosmos in exquisite detail. Using the largest camera ever built, Rubin will repeatedly scan the sky for 10 years and create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of our Universe.” (from https://rubinobservatory.org/)
November 19, 2025
The November speaker will now be ASGH President Chris Markiewicz who will speak on The Size and Scale of the Universe. (The earlier intended speaker, Frank Reed, had to cancel for this date).
Chris’s presentation discusses the breathtaking size and scale of the universe. It provides sizes and comparisons for objects from Earth to the observable universe. We start with the Earth compared to a salt grain, while the Sun is like a gumball, and grow from there! The sheer range of sizes and scale of the universe is a challenge for everyone who confronts it and Chris’s presentation will help us to grasp this just a bit more with its engaging graphics and examples.
Please feel free to share this meeting announcement with others who may be interested.
December 17, 2025
Speaker: ASGH Vice President Dean Kavalkovich will speak on “Celestial Navigation in Practice: The 2019 Marion-Bermuda Race”.
Dean will recount his experience as navigator in the 2019 Marion Massachusetts to Bermuda yacht race. He will discuss the challenges and methods of determining position at sea using the sun, moon, and stars!
January 21, 2026
Note the earlier start time of 7PM and the pre-registration requirement.
The January meeting will be an Astronomy Equipment Beginner’s Clinic. This clinic will provide amateurs who have new or confusing equipment, or who are considering what equipment to purchase, to work with experienced ASGH club members to better understand and be able to utilize their equipment more effectively and rewardingly and to determine what additional equipment might best benefit them and their goals with astronomy. So please consider attending and bringing your telescope, binoculars and other astronomy equipment, or ideas for equipment you may want, and get expert input and advice from ASGH members with many years of observing experience!
Rocky Hill Community Center
Room 1C
761 Old Main Street
Rocky Hill CT 06067
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Click here for directions
Please register at hartfordastroclinic2026.eventbrite.com.
Admission Free, but Space is Limited.
Registration closes on Tuesday, January 20 at 5:30 PM.
Please feel free to share this meeting announcement and the poster (will be forwarded separately) with others who may be interested.
We look forward to seeing you at the meeting in person!
February 18, 2026
Speaker: Theo Chawla, second-year master’s student at Wesleyan University
Disks of gas and dust develop around stars as they form, and they are important testbeds for understanding planetary system formation. As these systems evolve, they can form debris disks. Kuiper Belt-like structures of dust, and for some unusual disks, gas. Recent surveys of such disks have shown that they have a wide range of interior structure with yet undetermined origin. Analyzing their forms, as well as the patterns of their rotation, can allow us to better understand how these disks evolve and how planets may form within them. One particular debris disk, 49 Ceti, is unusually rich in gas with unknown origins, and has a subtle asymmetric feature present in both the gas and dust that may be indicative of an undiscovered exoplanet. In our research, we characterize this asymmetry, and model spiral and warp structures in the disk to better understand its origins. We compare our models to high-resolution radio observations, taken by the Atacama Large Millimeter Array in Chile. Investigating this asymmetry in such an unusual disk may help us better understand the evolution of circumstellar disks, their composition, and how planets or other companions affect their environments.
Theo Chawla is a second-year master’s student at Wesleyan University, whose research focuses on exoplanets, circumstellar disks, and planet formation. He also has a love of telescope instrument design, and a soft spot for historic refractors. He has a non-traditional background, starting his career in graphic design before falling in love with observational research. Before moving to Connecticut, he lived in California doing public astronomy outreach at Lick Observatory and the Chabot Space and Science Center, and research at the SETI Institute and Carnegie Observatories.
March 18, 2026
Speaker: Marcia Bartusiak, Professor of the Practice Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“The Day We Found the Universe”
On January 1, 1925, Edwin Hubble announced findings that ultimately established that our universe was filled with myriad galaxies just like our own. It was a realization that reshaped how humans understood their place in the cosmos. Six years later, continuing research by Hubble and others forced Albert Einstein to renounce his own cosmic model and finally accept the astonishing fact that the universe was not at rest but instead expanding.
The story of these discoveries includes battles of will, clever insights, and wrong turns made by the early investigators in this great twentieth-century pursuit. Marcia Bartusiak will recount these watershed moments in our cosmic history, describing how Hubble’s triumph was not his alone but was achieved by his standing on the shoulders of many before him.
Marcia Bartusiak is Professor of the Practice Emeritus in the Graduate Program in Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the award-winning author of seven books on astrophysics and the history of astronomy, including The Day We Found the Universe, Black Hole, and Einstein’s Unfinished Symphony. She was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, cited for “exceptionally clear communication of the rich history, the intricate nature, and the modern practice of astronomy to the public at large.”
April 15, 2026
Speaker: To be announced
May 20, 2026
Speaker: CT Science Fair Award Winners