Adventures in Astronomy by John C. Mannone..... Research and Writings of a Physicist

Welcome to Adventures in Astronomy tag

"Discovering History and Literature through Astronomy; Rediscovering Astronomy through Poetry."

Board of Directors (2004-2008). Senior Editor of Radio Astronomy journal
(Nov 2006- ).

Heavens-Above Satellite Tracking

International Space Station

Astronomy Merit Badge Counselor

Great Smoky Mountain & Cherokee Area Councils

Counselor for the following merit badges: Astronomy, Aviation, Chemistry, Electricity, Electronics, Energy, Engineering, Geology, Nuclear Science, Space Exploration, and Weather

I will serve as a Solar System Ambassador for the Great State of TN beginning Jan 2008

* March 2009 Elected Vice President and Program Director for Orion, Inc, an Oakridge, TN Science and Astronomy club.

* February 2009 The sobering poem, Nightshade, appears in the February issue of Liquid Imagination, an urban fantasy/horror ezine. It deals with the consequence of a gamma ray burst (GRB) directed at us.

* August 2008 Astronomy shows up in many different ways. Here is a bit of speculative fiction (science fiction and horror) published in the debut issue of Sonar4 ezine, which features my poetical work. The Deluge and Invasion are arguably astronomy related, but I hope you enjoy all five submissions.)

* January 2008 My Christian ministry website is finally debuted. PoeticWord Ministries, formed in August 2005, is a poetry-based Christian outreach. Astronomy-related metaphors are prevalent in my poetic works.

* November 2006 A little international notoriety: Poetic compositions appear in Guy Ottewell's Astronomical Calendar (2007, page 27, Lunatic Shadow, first appearing in the Thrift Poetic Arts Journal) and in John Dobson's 90th Birthday Commemorative Book (the poem is Dobsonian Reflection).

* September 9, 2006 A moving poetic expression from a friend stimulated a piece of research on the occurrence of a full moon during a winter solstice. Read about this uncommon confluence, which will occur on December 21, 2010, and an unexpected surprise.

winter solstice full moon 1893-2124 AD

*August 28, 2006 Click below to download a piece of experimental poetry illustrating the Butterfly Effect.

*August 10, 2006 BAS to host RNC, a local interactive poetry group, in an unusual astronomy meeting at McCallie School on 500 Dodds Ave (NOT at the Observatory).

Program 8/10/06

*August 2006 Barnard Star, the BAS Newsletter, will feature my article, "Astronomy Outreach Through Poetry." It is a discussion on the history of some Chattanooga treats, as well as commentary on the poetry and astronomy in the poem, "Moon Pies, RC Colas, and Licorice Skies" (click on BAS logo on this page and go to Newletters).

*SARA Conference June 18-21, 2006, NRAO, Green Bank, WV: My talk is "Solar Flares and Coronal Mass Ejections Impact on Astrophysical Plasmas"

Link to SARA2006 PPT

Below is my article appearing in the July/August 2006 issue of the SARA Journal:

SARA 2006 Conference- An Anecdotal Debriefing

*Astropoetica, a quality online lterary ezine, publishes two of my poems: "The Final Fling" (Summer 2006) and "Pearls in Galactic Oysters" (Spring/Summer 2007).

*My 40-page article, "A Propensity for Genius: That Something Special About Fritz Zwicky (1898-1974)" appears in the February 2006 issue of the Swiss American Historical Society Review journal. A biographical account of the famous astrophysicist is presented with an unusual literary fusion of science, history, philosophy, and poetry. It will feature two poetic compositions appropriate to the theme of Zwicky's work: "Through the Keyhole" and "Magic of Cepheid." Together with Walter Baade, Zwicky predicted that the violent death of massive stars he calls a supernova, might result in a neutron star and that this is the source of most of our non-solar cosmic radiation.

*Stellarium is an open source desktop planetarium for Linux/Unix, Windows and MacOSX. It renders the skies in realtime using OpenGL, which means the skies will look exactly like what you see with your eyes, binoculars, or a small telescope. Free, attractive, and very powerful (courtesy to Jim Brown, fellow SARA director for bringing this to our attention Aug 2005).

Stellarium

NASA Library Reference

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

NRAO/SARA Navigators Outreach Program

Astronomy club network sharing our passion with the community

Barnard Astronomical Society

I am the Outreach Chairman & an NSN Coordinator for BAS, an active club in the Night Sky Network

* January 2008 BAS Praised as NSN Heroes. Here is a communication exchange:

Sent: Jan 9, 2008

To: John Mannone

Subject: Excellent Event Logs

Hi John,

I just want to say what a fantastic job you did on your latest event logs. Marni and I both read them and "wow"ed at the innovative ways that you come up with for getting folks interested in astronomical wonders. I especially liked how you combine astronomy with culture, history and religion. That takes a lot of thought and it is clear that you are doing a great job getting the message out.

You've really been astounding us (and others too, I'm sure) lately. Keep up the great work!

~Vivian

Vivian White

Night Sky Network Administrator

Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Hello Vivian,

Thank you so much for the encouragement. I am so pleased that my event logs have delighted you and Marni. I do enjoy doing them. I suppose it's the teacher in me and consider it an opportunity to provide a resource to other astronomers engaged in outreach; i.e., the event log can be an innovative educational tool when blended with liberal arts (remember, astronomy is the other liberal art) with a little "entertainment". Hearing this from you makes it worth my spending on average well over an hour for each report. The bean count isn't really that important to me except to demonstrate that a small club like ours can get national recognition. I can only imagine what we could do if we also had a planetarium--I wish they weren't so expensive to build. Then again, it is amazing what one can do with planetarium software, even on PowerPoint. I think I will talk to my people to see what they can do about surround sound at the observatories to enhance the lecture/PowerPoint experience.

Blessings and Cheer,

John

Sent: Jan 11, 2008

Subject: Our NSN Heroes

To: Barnard Astronomical Society

John, Victor and Sam,

We would like to extend our appreciation to the Barnard Astronomical Society. As one of the very most active clubs in the Night Sky Network, you have logged so many detailed events, enlivened discussions on the Outreach Ideas Forum, and given us many good ideas for better ways to do outreach. We appreciate your commitment and dedication to your local community as well as to the NSN program.

We would like to send you a token of our appreciation, in addition to your annual award. Please keep your eyes out for an Our Star, the Sun banner, from the Solar System ToolKit with all of the rulers and stickers to go with it. We hope that this helps make all the outreach you do easier to coordinate. Thank you again for you hard work. You inspire us!

Marni Berendsen and Vivian White

Night Sky Network Administrators

Astronomical Society of the Pacific

January 11, 2008

Dear Marni and Vivian,

I recently got back from a writer's conference meeting and was delighted to find your thoughtful note to us. We are pleased that we can make a contribution to NSN and we want to continue to be an asset. We humbly accept your tokens of appreciation and I am sure they will be used effectively for outreach.

I am thankful to have a supportive club that has taken a proactive stance to break free from the rut of complacency that plagues so many clubs (not just the astronomy clubs) around the nation, especially when so many things compete for our time. Since I have become involved with NSN, our club has "testing new waters" for astronomy outreach. Our membership has grown a bit and I have hopes of significant future growth as more and more of our members begin to realize that outreach is fun and does not replace their other activities in astronomy. Of course, I must learn to be more patient concerning our rate of approach to "critical mass" when the entire club will spontaneously ignite the love of astronomy with whomever they meet in the community.

Warm thanks,

John

*The Cleveland Banner has run a feature article by editor Leba Dawkins on the recent "Poetry Under the Stars" event in the Sunday September 4, 2005 issue.

article on this page

*The Astronomy League magazine, the Reflector, features an article by editor Kent Marts on how I have blended astronomy and poetry together ("The Inspirational and Stellar Poetry of John Mannone," March 2005 issue, pp. 12-14 (see "Radio Poetry" page)).

*International Dark Skies Association features my cross word puzzle #2, whose theme is on light pollution, in the Dec 2004 Newsletter (#60). Also, see my poem "Dark Skies" published in the March 2005 Newsletter (#61). The Sept 2005 issue will feature the poem, "Peeping Lights": This poem was stimulated by the Tennessee Spring Star Party at Fall Creek Falls State Park in Middle TN in March 2005 (Go to the Light Pollution page and click on the satellite map of the world at night).

*The poem "Star Party," inspired by the 2004 Mid Atlantic Star Party, appears in Frontage Road (May 2005) along with three other poems. It was also featured in the Poetry Under the Stars event.

In Memoriam

Mary Watson and David Fields (Arecibo December 2004)

Our dear friend, Mary Watson, passed away December 17, 2005. Mary was a dedicated amateur optical and radio astronomer who loved people. She will be greatly missed.

David Fields has established the Mary E. Watson Memorial Astronomy Research Endowment through Roane State Community College through which we can make contributions to promote educational outreach for young ladies (contact fieldsde at aol dot com for more information).

(Picture courtesy: Charles and Janis Osborne)

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