The Warren Astronomical Society meets monthly on the third Thursday in a room in the library (Building J) at Macomb Community College’s South Campus. We meet in Room 221, just to the left of the main desk.

We do a bit of club business early on, then have a major presentation usually put together by one of our members.

Main presentation: “Neutron Stars” by Dave Bailey

Dave Bailey will explore the physics of neutron stars, using the whiteboard, with visual accompaniment by Ken Bertin. Neutron stars are the strangest among the types of stars we know to be frequent. Which is not to say they’re easy to find – most of them are invisible. In fact, there is likely an undetected neutron star within fifty light years of us.

Dave will talk about what they’re made of, why they’re so hard to find, and how they form. We’ll discuss various types of neutron stars we do know about, such as pulsars, strange stars, and quark stars, and what happens when they spiral together. You will leave with a better understanding of how much we don’t know about these very unusual celestial bodies.

Astronomy has always been a major part of Dave Bailey’s life – his parents met at Yerkes Observatory! Dave is in the minority in the club; he is more of a theoretician than an observationalist. He doesn’t own a major telescope.

As an optical engineer, he has worked on several different kinds of spy equipment (details classified). He has done laser isotope separation (NOT on uranium). He has worked with laser weapons, both offensive and defensive, and nerve gas detectors (details not classified).

Living up to his reputation as the club’s resident Einstein, Dave’s presentations to the club regularly expand our minds and challenge our preconceptions. They also generally use whiteboards instead of computers, and often come with multi-page handouts. If you’re looking for some mental exercise, don’t miss his presentations!

Illustration by Casey Reed – Penn State University.
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After each WAS Macomb meeting, some club members get together to continue to the discussion in a more free-form way at the National Coney Island on Van Dyke just north of 12 Mile. This is a opportunity to further discuss astronomy in an informal environment for about an hour or so. All members and guests are invited to join us there.

We leave from the meeting around 9:30 PM and meet at the restaurant a few minutes later. You can order food from the menu if you like, but not everyone does. We eat and discuss astronomy and related topics for an hour or so. Most leave the restaurant by 11PM.
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If you would like to present a short talk (5-15 minutes) or a long talk (40-60 minutes) at a future meeting, please email Jonathan Kade at firstvp@warrenastro.org.
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The views expressed in presentations are those of the speakers and do not necessarily represent, and should not be attributed to, the Warren Astronomical Society.