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Julian StarFest 2012

August 16th - 19th, 2012  Menghini Winery, Julian, CA

Brought to you by the San Diego Astronomy Association (SDAA) and the town of Julian

Calendar of Activities

Check This Page Often For Updates

Shuttle Service

Shuttle services were provided by the Santa Ysabel Resort and Casino (SYRC) and ran from the Menghini Winery to Julian to the Casino, and downtown Julian.

Guest Speakers

Special thanks to our 2011 speakers listed below:
  • John Garrett, President, Temecula Valley Astronomers, who presented "Earth, Orbit and Climate."   John is a member of the International Dark-Sky Association and the Temecula Valley Astronomers holding several leadership positions including President from 2008-2011, Vice President, and Newsletter Editor.  With IDA, he works with Palomar Observatory to reinvigorate awareness of light pollution at the County and city level in southwest Riverside County.  He has published photos in Astronomy Magazine (April 2005 Readers Gallery, April 2005, and The Sky This Month, Oct. 2006).  For the past seven years, he has been a speaker and supplementing star parties with personally illustrated presentations and presented “Exoplanets” at the 2010 Julian StarFest.  About ten years ago he started studying climatology in the primary scientific literature.  Illustrating the involvement of astronomy with regard to climate science became the basis of his presentation “Earth, Orbit, and Climate.” In 2010 he started contributing to the website Skeptical Science, which was nominated for the George Mason University’s 2010 Climate Change Communicator of the Year award.  Most recently, he has been cited as a contributing author on a series of posts on Skeptical Science comparing the Eemian interglacial of 125,000 years ago to the Holocene (past 10,000 years).  This comparison is part of his “Earth, Orbit, and Climate” presentation.
  • Jerry Hilburn, JPL Solar System Ambassador (SSA), who spoke on "JUNO - A NASA New Frontiers Mission To The Planet Jupiter."   Jerry Hilburn is active member of the San Diego Astronomy Association participating in more than 20 star party events annually.  Jerry is also a volunteer public speaker for the NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador program and a strong proponent of NASA/JPL science initiatives.  Over the past 6 years he has run a small start-up company in the emerging new space commercial space sector, and is an amateur astronomer for more than 40 years.
  • Mark Lane, Astronomy Professor, who presented "The Milky Way - How We Know What We Know About Our Galaxy."   Mark is an Associate Professor of Astronomy and the Director of the Planetarium at Palomar College.  After earning his degrees in astronomy at SDSU, he has spent the last 17 years teaching astronomy at several of San Diego's local community colleges (14 years at Palomar College).  He is a member of the SDAA and a Docent at Palomar Observatory.
  • Dennis Mammana, Astronomer, Lecturer, Astrophotographer, who spoke on " The World At Night ( TWAN) - An International Team Of Night Sky Photographers."   Dennis is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist with Creators Syndicate and author of six books on popular astronomy, Dennis Mammana is also an invited member of TWAN, an international team of the most highly-acclaimed sky photographers on the planet.  He offers workshops and leads public tours to view and photograph amazing celestial events such as total solar eclipses and the aurora borealis.  Mammana is a full-time resident of Borrego Springs where he writes and lectures about—and, of course, photographs—the clear dark skies of the Anza-Borrego Desert.  To learn more, you may visit him online on his website, and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere.
  • Dr. Tim Parker, Mission Director, JPL Regional Planetary Image Facility &, who spoke on "Curiosity Rover Mission To Mars."   Tim is a planetary geologist, and amateur astronomer.  Athena Science Team Member; Mars Exploration Rover mission Co-Investigator; Mastcam and MARDI cameras; Mars Science Laboratory Rover Mission; Director, JPL Regional Planetary Image Facility, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA.
  • Tom Polakis, Astrophotographer & Contributing Editor for Astronomy magazine, who spoke on "Atacama Astronomy (Astronomy In Chile)."   Tom has been an amateur astronomer for more than one revolution of Saturn.  His main interests are deep-sky observing, camera-and-tripod sky photography, and astronomical travel.  He writes for Astronomy magazine, where he is a Contributing Editor.
  • Kin Searcy, Palomar Observatory Docent, who spoke on "The History of Palomar Observatory." Kin has been an amateur astronomer for twenty years. He is a board member of the San Diego Astronomy Association (SDAA), a docent at Palomar Observatory and an SDAA star party coordinator for the schools and scouts. He retired as an electronics engineer at the Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) almost two years ago after 33 years of government service and 14 years in the computer industry. I recommend the SDAA AISIG gallery at: http://aisig.sdaa.org/

More information Coming Soon!

Activities

Activities on Friday and Saturday are available in the Vendor/Exhibit area.

Note: Day use does not require pre-registration.  Admission to the Vendor / Exhibit area is $5.00 per adult, $2.50 for Teens (13 to 18) payable at the gate.  Children, 12 and under are free.  Admission for registered campers is included in their camping fee.  Just show your wrist band for admission to the Vendor / Exhibit area. 

You only have to pay once for admission.  Your wrist band will allow you entrance for both days of activities.