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Updated: 6/16/09

Conference

2009 GLPA Conference

You are invited to the International Year of Astronomy 45th annual GLPA Conference October 21 - 24, 2009. Mark your calendars. This will be one not to miss!Conference Hotel

The conference will be in beautiful Bay City Michigan along the Saginaw River. The Double Tree Hotel, overlooking the river and across the street from the Delta College Planetarium, will serve as our conference headquarters. We have secured a great room rate of $109 a night, plus a Quality Inn is right next door as an alternate.

PlanetariumThe Delta College Planetarium and Learning Center, a satellite campus of Delta College, features classrooms, a computer lab, a large multipurpose room, catering kitchen, observation deck, and gift shop. We specialize in both recorded and live, interactive programs, so there will be something for everyone whether you’re from a school planetarium, a public museum or other type of facility. Our planetarium houses a Digistar II with seating for 130 under a 10-degree tilted 50-foot dome. An exciting event this year will be the debut of Digistar 4 by Evans & Sutherland. Delta College has secured funding for this new system and they promise we will have some form of it installed to show you, possibly with a brand new type of projector.

Guest speakers include Dr. Ron Kaitchuck from Ball State University with the “Astronomy Update.” Dr. Axel Mellinger from Central Michigan University, who has photographed the entire night sky and created “The New Atlas of the Stars,” is doing it again in even higher resolution. He’ll tell us how it’s done. Plus, Dr. Christian Marois from the NRC Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Canada will wow us with the first actual photos ever taken of planets orbiting other stars! Dr. Marois led one of two teams that were the first to actually image exoplanets. See March 2009 Sky & Telescope, page 22. Of course Friday night’s banquet will feature the annual Spitz Lecture.

Everything is beginning to fall into place for an exciting and worthwhile conference, but we need YOU to start thinking about presenting a paper and/or poster. Don't forget, this is IYA 2009 and we would all like to hear about what you've been up to helping to bring astronomy to the world with your students and visitors. Come network with your colleagues in a beautiful setting.

Conference Updates:
June 15: The mailing of conference registration packets has been delayed due to some unforeseen issues. We're working hard to solve the problems and get them out to you. Watch this space for updates. Thanks for your patience!

Looking forward to seeing you in Bay City!

Garry Beckstrom

Conference Host

Delta College Planetarium & Learning Center


Previous Conference:

2008 Conference: Milwaukee Area, Wisconsin
October 29 - November 1, 2008 

We hope you attended the 2008 GLPA Conference in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. It was a great conference! Our host sites included three uniquely different planetarium facilities. The Daniel M. Soref Planetarium at the Milwaukee Public Museum features a 74 foot dome, with a Sony SRX full-dome video system. The Charles Z. Horwitz Planetarium at the Retzer Nature Center in Waukesha features a 40 foot dome, a Spitz 512 projector and an all-sky projection system. The Gary E. Sampson Planetarium at Wauwatosa West High School includes a 30 foot dome, a Spitz A-4 projector, and a three-screen video system. Dr. Jean Creighton of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Manfred Olson Planetarium hosted a great post-conference trip.

Guest speakers were Dr. James Kaler with the “Astronomy Update”, Dan Francetic with the annual Spitz Lecture, and Dr. Michelle Thaller of the Spitzer Infrared Telescope Project.

Special thanks to our conference hosts, and the many people who helped them!
Bob Bonadurer; Daniel M. Soref Planetarium
Dave DeRemer; Charles Z. Horwitz Planetarium
Todd Dezeeuw & Gary Sampson; Gary E. Sampson Planetarium
Dr. Jean Creighton; Manfred Olson Planetarium


The Great Lakes Planetarium Association acknowledges and thanks the following companies and organizations for their generous support of our educational endeavors in Fiscal Year 2008-09:

Parallel Universe Level - Conference Sponsors ($4,000+)

Universe Level - Conference Sponsors ($1,500 to $3,999)

Galaxy Level - Patron Sponsors ($750-$1,499)

Solar System Level - Sustaining Sponsors ($500 to $749)

Planet Sponsors ($250 to $499)

  • none

Note: if you would like to support our next conference, or if you have questions about supporting our conference, please contact our Development Chair.

Special Note: Dr. Jim Kaler's annual Astronomy Updates are now archived online! They're a great resource to refer back to... especially if you didn't take very good notes!