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Chuck Ring, founding club leader and many times club past president, and his wife, Sue, have been very active members in most FOG club activities since 1995. Sadly, they are moving to West Seattle to live closer to family after 46 years in their Kelso home.  Chuck, a career salesman, has always been FOG’s enthusiastic promoter, very personable recruiter, and community connecter. He and Sue Piper shared their common interest in astronomy at Toastmasters and started our club in spring 1995. They started with a public viewing in Feb. ’95, even before owning any telescopes. Chuck greeted all visitors at those impromptu star parties and recruited to join the club. Chuck and Sue endured icy roads and a car wreck to meet Cal Zambuto, regional Telescope maker. They enticed Carl (now nationally known mirror manufacturer) to teach a mirror grinding and telescope making class to their fledgling group of a dozen astronomy enthusiasts. World famous astrophysicist, James Dobson, Ph.D. lectured our group at Jepson’s workshop at the commissioning of 9 completed 6‘’-8’ Dobs. I joined the first official club meeting in May ’95. Since then, we have met monthly for a scientific program and enjoyed sharing our friendship and interests as astronomy hobbyists. Chuck would frequently setup his new telescope at the Allen St. gas station on clear evenings to invite any passerby to look at the moon. Chuck and Sue always helped with the July solar Picnic, the December potluck Christmas Party and white elephant astro-gift exchange, the Earth Day FOG booth, special public viewings for lunar eclipses, transits, comets, and school events. They helped with newly started Winter Solstice Lantern Walk at Lake Sacajawea, the biennial painting of the Human Sundial at LCC with Steve Powell, Peg, Mark, Greg, or Bill, and the annual Mt. Saint Helens Star Party. Chuck enjoyed cultivating relationships with our monthly guest astronomy speakers at the pre-meeting dinners. He maintained contact with our NASA Solar System Ambassadors, Les Hastings and Greg Cermac. Chuck was passionate about outreach with Sidewalk Astronomy viewing. He was our faithful liaison with Andre Stepankowsky, The Daily News Editor, who published articles that promoted our educational public astronomy events including the 2017 Solar Eclipse. Chuck’s friendly demeanor encouraged many local astronomy aficionados to keep looking up at the starry nights. Chuck is bringing his 8” Dob to their new home. We are excited to stay connected with him through our zoom hybrid meetings. Chuck and Sue feel blessed with their 4 children and 8 grandchildren, who he says, “turned out pretty good!” They are enjoying the loving attention from their family.  But they cherish the fun that we shared in our friendship through Friends of Galileo during 26 years. Please consider corresponding with Chuck and Sue Ring in Seattle (address available to club members).
-- by Mark Thorson
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Congratulations to Steve Powell! Steve retired after 37 years of teaching physical sciences at Mark Morris High School in Longview.  Steve's last day in the classroom. Teaching
Steve mainly taught elective physics and freshman physical science, but occasionally also math and astronomy. For much of the most recent school year, teaching was done via Zoom, but eventually switched to a hybrid model with some students in class and some on Zoom. What was Steve's highest award? The senior class last year voted him the "most dedicated educator." That meant a great deal to to Steve. Friends of Galileo Steve has been a member of Friends of Galileo since the club started in 1995. He is our Treasurer (and past President and VP) and for years has arranged our meeting space at Mark Morris High School. FoG gave a "Human Sundial" to Lower Columbia College in 2005. Steve was instrumental in its design (and describes it here https://www.friendsofgalileo.com/blog/the-human-sundial). Club members first tried purchasing plans that were supposed to be accurate for Longview's coordinates. They tested the plans. "In June of 2005 we used chalk to mark out part of the sundial on my asphalt basketball court. It failed miserably! So I decided to do some online research on the mathematics for such a sundial. Then I created a spreadsheet that calculated the positions of the various parts of the sundial... When we were finally finished, we were delighted and relieved to see that the sundial was accurate to within a minute of the correct time. Not too shabby!" More recently, Steve was the the guest speaker for the FoG meeting in April. He spoke about the tidal forces of the sun and moon on the earth - and the tidal forces affecting galaxies and black holes. He started with basic descriptions of vectors and acceleration, and brought us along to fascinating descriptions of the largest structures in the universe. Retirement plans Steve says the reality of retirement hasn't really hit yet because he's taken off 37 summers already, but this fall it will sink in when he doesn't have to go back to school. He's looking forward to traveling, reading, and home improvement projects. Good luck in retirement, Steve!  Hello, everyone
We regret to say that Friends of Galileo Astronomy Club must cancel this year's Solstice Lantern Walk. We had hoped it would be a go, especially with the City of Longview itself hosting a Halloween event at the Lake. However, the governor's latest directives shut down most outdoor activity until December 14. Even if all goes well by then, five days would not be a reasonable planning window for our December 19th event. All of the sponsors I've been in touch with wanted to go ahead this year. Thank you for your support! We hope to have our normal event in 2021. We may even have an extra summer event. Stay tuned!
Happy New Year and thank you Longview!
We had a great turnout for Longview's second annual Solstice Lantern Walk through the Solar System on December 21. We didn't have a full moon this year, but we did have tacos! We brightened the longest night, celebrated the return of longer days, and met great people. Here are some highlights. The rain cleared up just in time for the Walk. We estimate that 400 people walked part or all of the 3.7 billion miles from the Sun, at the south end of Lake Sacajawea to Pluto, at the north end. Couples, individuals, families, and pets had a great time - many dressed up with lanterns and lights. We had at least one couple drive up from Portland just to participate. Our route followed the Solar System Walk given to the City of Longview by the Friends of Galileo Astronomy Club in 2001. The walk is a series of granite markers showing the relative distances between the Sun and the planets - it's our solar system, scaled down to Lake Sacajawea. The markers follow the path on the west side of Lake Sacajawea, over 1.64 miles. Map of Solar System Walk We had passports for people to take to each planet and get it stamped. Thank you to Laval for the terrific passport design. Thank you to Pat and Michelle at Copies Today/Speedy Litho for donating the printing for our passports. They looked great! speedylitho.com The planets were lit up in a small way or in a big way. Kids got candy at several planets and people got to know some of the great clubs in our community. * * * * * If you walked the whole Solar System (3.7 billion miles!), you saw: The Sun - Friends of Galileo Astronomy Club started off the event with lanterns and passports and candy for the kids. FoG has monthly meetings (details below), sidewalk astronomy, star parties, and our annual overnight event at Mount St. Helens. friendsofgalileo.com Mercury - Kelso Freemasons Lodge #94 has been part of Kelso for over 125 years! Come by for a coffee on a Saturday morning and find out about the historic building and a centuries-old fraternity (204 S. Pacific Ave, Kelso). bluelodge-wa.org/kelso94/our_lodge.htm Venus - Girl Scouts of Western Washington brought cookies to Venus again. Keep an eye out for their new location on Commerce Ave. Opening soon - but the Girl Scouts are active now! girlscoutsww.org Earth - Three Rivers Christian School is a new sponsor this year. What a great job - they cleaned up in the online votes and the students did a huge amount of work. Their teepee lanterns were especially cool. https://3riversschool.net Santa Claus - Did you see him on his travels along the solar system? Ho ho ho! Mars - Shinju Dojo Aikido Martial Arts School was our first planet sponsor! A lot of people were interested to hear about a resource for adults and teens to grow their self confidence and become who they are meant to be. Learn self defense in a friendly, low-impact, non-competitive atmosphere right here in Longview. shinjudojo.com Planet Taco - Thank you, La Familia Taqueria, for joining us with your food truck. Their tacos were great, and helped fortify people during their billion-mile walk. La Familia Taqueria Jupiter - Longview Freemasons Lodge #263 - Our most generous donor. Thank you, Masons! They have been making good men better for centuries. Longview Lodge will celebrate its first century the year after Longview does. Find out more at their Thursday breakfasts (823 7th Ave, Longview, about 8:00 am). longviewlodge.org Saturn - Kelso-Longview Elks, Lodge #1482. The Elks are another new sponsor this year. They did a great job. Did you see Saturn and its rings hanging from the trees? elks #1482 Uranus - The Boy Scouts of America, Cascade Pacific Council didn't just have a good set up and interesting information about their planet ("12 Facts About Uranus"!), they added s'mores and a warming tent! Both were very welcome at that point in the walk. This year, the Boy Scouts upped their game. Our long-term goal is to line the whole route - 1.64 miles - with luminarias to mark the path. The Boy Scouts themselves covered 0.6 miles, more than one third the route. With the other planets, we covered more than half the distance from Sun to Pluto. We did this in our second year, and mostly due to the Boy Scouts. Wow! cpcbsa.org Sacajawea - Amtgard, Shire of Mithril Hills, is another new sponsor. Amtgard is a LARP, a live-action role playing group. Swords, shields, spells - come watch them practice or better yet, join in! They practice at noon on Sundays in Lexington Park. Amtgard Mithril Hills Neptune - Even with TWO astronomy clubs involved in this event, the Mount St. Helens Hiking Club was the only one to bring along a telescope - two years in a row. Plus, they gave out some amazing taffy this year. mtsthelensclub.org Comet Swift-Tuttle - New sponsor Columbia River Reader brightened up the outer solar system, and handed out very cool fidget spinners. crreader.com Pluto - Rose City Astronomers came all the way from Portland to set up at the far end of the solar system. Check out their calendar of events next time you're in Portland. rosecityastronomers.net Two Space Shuttles! This year we had not one but two space shuttles driving between the Sun and Pluto for those unable to walk the round trip. Phil Sari of Columbia Ford generously loaned us the vans. Thank you, Phil, and thank you drivers Ron and Kevin! colford.net Thank you also... Thank you, Emiley for loaning us canopies from Youth and Family Link, for the space shuttles and for some of our sponsors. linkprogram.org Thank you, Joe Hotai, for permission to use your photos. It was great to meet you! Kazumi Hotai Judging the planets Our judges Marin, Ava and Noel walked the whole route and judged each planet on these criteria:
We will announce the winner of the Out of This World Award and the People's Choice Award (thank you, online voters) at our next club meeting (details below). * * * * * Most of all, thank you everyone who came out for the event! You got a chance to meet some of the terrific people here in Longview and to learn about local clubs. Do you want another Solstice Lantern Walk in 2020? Come to the next meeting of Friends of Galileo Astronomy Club and help make it happen. Next meeting: 7:00 PM, Wednesday, January 15, 2020 Mark Morris High School Large Group Instructional Center (enter west side) Directions and map on our About page Happy New Year! Roy Gawlick Solstice Coordinator Friends of Galileo Astronomy Club  Great news, Longview!
At last year's event, we arranged for clear skies and a full moon. This year, we have upped our game. We have a new destination in the Solar System - Planet Taco! La Familia will have a food truck between Mars and Jupiter, on Nichols Blvd at 17th. Be like the astronauts! Explore the Solar System with a taco! Other tips
 Woo hoo!
Thank you to Pat and Michelle at Copies Today / Speedy Litho. They donated passports for Longview's second annual Solstice Lantern Walk Through the Solar System. The passports look great - and they're collectible! Get yours at the Sun (south end of Lake Sacajawea, this Saturday, Dec. 21 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm) and get a stamp at each planet on your way to Pluto (north end of the lake). Meet the great people behind some of Longview's community groups. Celebrate the return of longer days and bring light and cheer to the longest night of the year! Latest event info, as always, on our Solstice page. See you there! Roy Gawlick Solstice Coordinator Friends of Galileo Astronomy Club
Hi everyone. We had a very busy January meeting!
Solstice Lantern Walk awards The Friends of Galileo organized Longview's first-ever Solstice Lantern Walk through the Solar System on December 21, 2018. It was a great success! Our judges, Marin, Noel and Ava, announced the winner of the Out of this World Award for best planet. They came up with the criteria:
After visiting each planet, they gave the award to the Lilac Academy for Bright and Curious Girls for their display at Saturn. Hazel and Ila, and parents Matt and Sarah, did a terrific job. They had a brightly-lit booth, information about their planet and about women in space, and even LED-lit hula hoops for Saturn's rings. They also lit the path of the Solstice Lantern Walk with luminarias - for at least 500 feet! Friends of Galileo presented them with a planesphere and a red LED flashlight to help them continue their astronomical explorations. We also had a number of online votes. Our judges gave the People's Choice Award to the Girl Scouts of Western Washington for their display at Venus. Venus definitely had the longest lines of interested people. Well done! And we were pleased to have so many of our planet sponsors present at the meeting.
Thank you all for coming! Speaker Mark Thorson spoke on "Limiting Magnitude," that is, how we calculate the relative brightness of stars. The system we still use today has its origins with the Greek astronomer Hipparchus - over 2,000 years ago! Future events
The club has a few more events to consider. Will we participate in the following?
 Happy New Year and thank you Longview!
We had a terrific turnout Dec. 21 for our first-ever Solstice Lantern Walk through the Solar System. We brightened the longest night and celebrated the return of longer days and we met great people. Here are some highlights. Under clear skies and a nearly full moon, we estimate that 400 - 500 people walked from the Sun to Pluto. What a great bunch of happy people - many walkers were dressed up with lanterns and lights. Our route followed the Solar System Walk given to the City of Longview by the Friends of Galileo Astronomy Club in 2001. The walk is a series of granite markers showing the relative distances between the Sun and the planets. The markers follow the path on the west side of Lake Sacajawea, over 1.64 miles. (Map of Solar System Walk) We had passports for people to take to each planet to get a stamp. The event was so popular we ran out of passports. Thank you to Pat and Rena at Copies Today / Speedy Litho for donating the printing for our passports! They looked great! (speedylitho.com) We had a variety of community groups sponsoring planets or otherwise helping with this event. The planets were lit up in a small way or in a big way. Kids got candy at several planets, and people got to know some of the great clubs in our community. Our judges Marin, Ava and Noel walked the whole route and judged each planet on these criteria:
We will announce the winner of the Out of This World Award and the People's Choice Award (thank you, online voters) at our next club meeting (details below). * * * * * If you walked the whole Solar System (3.7 billion miles!), you saw: The Sun - Friends of Galileo Astronomy Club started off the event with lanterns and passports and candy for the kids. friendsofgalileo.com Mercury - Kelso Freemasons Lodge #94 demonstrated that Masons are solid people. We had sponsors who had physical difficulties setting up and taking down - thank you Mike, Don, Craig, and Katie for jumping right in to help. bluelodge-wa.org/kelso94/our_lodge.htm Venus - Girl Scouts of Western Washington made Venus one of our most popular planets. They even had line ups! It might have had something to do with cookies. And thank you, Girl Scouts, for also helping other sponsors. girlscoutsww.org Earth - Longview Garden Club had an interesting projection on the inside of their canopy. Did you see it? longviewgardenclub.org Santa Claus - He traveled between the Sun and Mars. Ho ho ho! Mars - Shinju Dojo Aikido was our first planet sponsor! A lot of people were interested to learn about a low-impact, non-competitive martial art, taught right here in Longview. shinjudojo.com Jupiter - Longview Freemasons Lodge #263 sure added a lot of light to a dark evening, with an antique lantern collection. longviewlodge.org Saturn - The Lilac Academy for Bright and Curious Girls did a terrific job with a booth - and with lighting up the path for hundreds of feet. Well done, home schoolers! (They're awesome and really should make a web site) Uranus - The Boy Scouts of America, Cascade Pacific Council didn't just have a good set up and interesting information about their planet ("12 Facts About Uranus"!), they added s'mores and a warming tent! Both were very welcome at that point in the walk. cpcbsa.org Sacajawea - Stageworks Northwest Theatre definitely had the largest planet team. Check out their plays - maybe next time we can talk them into short performances during the Solstice Walk. stageworksnorthwest.com Neptune - Even with TWO astronomy clubs involved in this event, the Mount St. Helens Hiking Club was the only one to bring along a telescope. mtsthelensclub.org Pluto - Four members of Rose City Astronomers came all the way from Portland to set up at the far end of the solar system. Check out their calendar for events next time you're in Portland. rosecityastronomers.net The Space Shuttle Friends of Galileo member Chuck Ring drove a van between the Sun and Pluto for those unable to walk the round trip. Phil Sari of Columbia Ford generously loaned us the van. Thank you, Phil and Chuck! colford.net Thank you also to - Andrea Horton of Gyros Gyros Restaurant for your generous financial donation (Gyros-Gyros on Facebook) - Emiley Siters for loaning us canopies from Youth and Family Link. linkprogram.org * * * * * Most of all, thank you everyone who came out for a new event! You got a chance to meet some of the terrific people here in Longview and to learn about local clubs. Do you want another Solstice Lantern Walk in 2019? Come to the next meeting of Friends of Galileo Astronomy Club and help make it happen. Next meeting: 7:00 PM, Wednesday, January 16, 2019 Mark Morris High School, Physics classroom D8 Directions and map on our About page Happy New Year! The sun came out for today's work party.
We inspected and cleaned all the polished granite plaques which are part of the Solar System Walk at Lake Sacajawea. It was a gift to the City of Longview from Friends of Galileo in 2001. The Walk is a scale model of our solar system, representing relative sizes and distances of the sun and planets. In our model, the sun is 24" across. Pluto is 1/20" and 1.64 miles away. In reality, Pluto is 1,413 miles across and 3.7 billion miles from the sun, which is 864,000 miles in diameter. As you enjoy Lake Sacajawea, keep an eye out for the sun and planets. The Walk is along the path on the west side of the lake. You can download a self-guided tour to help you find your way through our solar system. |
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