Mia and I enjoyed Windycon 52. This year it had moved in time back to the 2nd weekend in October, where we first knew it. It had also moved it space to the Hyatt Regency O’Hare. As at our previous Chicagoland conventions, it was good to catch up with old friends, although this time part of it was to celebrate the life of one of them who is no longer with us.
These are notes from a presentation by Bill Higgins and Henry Spencer at Capricon 46. Any mistakes here are mine, not the speakers’. I have amplified my notes with web links for further clarification. Here is the blurb from the convention program:
Bill and Henry fill you in on recent developments in space, starting with a look at the latest interstellar comet, Comet 3I/ATLAS (as seen mostly by spacecraft).
These are notes from a presentation by Henry Spencer at Capricon 46. Any mistakes here are mine, not Henry’s. I have amplified my notes with web links for further clarification. Here is the blurb from the convention program:
Near-Earth asteroids (and their cousins, comets) are interesting objects, possible future sources of metals and other materials… and potential threats to civilization and even life on Earth. The good news is, this is the only type of major natural disaster that we might actually be able to prevent. A look at what we know about asteroids (and comets), what sort of threat they present, and what we can do to anticipate trouble from them and maybe head it off.
These are notes from a presentation by Henry Spencer at Capricon 46. Any mistakes here are mine, not Henry’s. I have amplified my notes with web links for further clarification. Here is the blurb from the convention program:
The real history and technology (so far as they’re publicly known) of nuclear weapons, and the ways SF gets them wrong — aimed at authors, techies, and interested readers.
Mia and I had a good time at Capricon 46. Unlike last year, it was held at the Marriott Chicago O’Hare. It was OK as a hotel, but compared to the Sheraton in downtown Chicago, it is in a culinary wasteland. There were no restaurants with in walking distance. We were stuck with the hotel restaurant (I hate monopolies) or what what we could buy from a well-stocked grocery store a quarter mile away. We did see some old friends again.
Mia and I enjoyed Windycon 51. Once again, it was it was at the Doubletree Oak Brook, like last year and the year before. As at our previous Chicagoland conventions, it was good to catch up with old friends.
Mia and I enjoyed Capricon 45. It was held at the Sheraton Grand Chicago, February 1-4, as it was when we attended last year and three years ago. As on those occasions, we were very happy to be at a con in downtown Chicago again, with an almost infinite supply of places to eat and drink in walking distance of the hotel. As in previous years, some of our Chicagoland fannish friends did not attend, but others did, and we enjoyed seeing them again.
Notes from a presentation at Capricon 45, Chicago, Feb. 7, 2024. Any mistakes are mine. The speaker is not responsible for any errors here.
Larry Bartozek will describe the intimate relationship between astronomy and the Periodic Table by looking at how everything we learn about the distant universe comes from dissecting starlight, and starlight comes from excited atoms changing their energy states. Topics will include a brief history of the universe, electron shell structure, spectroscopy on starlight and more! All of this comes from an understanding of the unique “fingerprints” of atoms in the light they give off. Larry will also show the work that he did on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Telescope.
Mia and I flew to Austin, TX to visit old friends and watch the April 8 eclipse from their back yard. This was the first total solar eclipse either of us had ever seen. Clouds came and went, but the sky was clear enough during the period of totality to give us a great view. We used eclipse glasses before and after totality, but took them off during the main event. It was spectacular. I took a couple pictures with the camera on my cheap Android phone, but they were disappointing: The corona completely washed out the moon’s disk. I knew eclipse photography was hard and was not expecting much, and did not let worrying about the pictures interfere with my experience of the event.
