MVAS General Meeting/Speaker: Chuck Allen, President of the Astronomical League

Name: MVAS General Meeting/Speaker: Chuck Allen, President of the Astronomical League
Start: 2026-05-08T19:00:00-04:00
End: 2026-05-08T21:15:00-04:00
Location: VFW Post 3283; 5074 Nebraska Ave., Huber Heights, OH 45424

Schedule

Fri May 08 2026 at 07:00 pm to 09:15 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

VFW Post 3283; 5074 Nebraska Ave., Huber Heights, OH 45424 | Huber Heights, OH

For the MVAS May General Meeting, Chuck Allen, President of the Astronomical League, will give the main presentation titled “How Do We Know It’s That Far?”. Here is a quick summary:
"This presentation explores the historical advancement of distance determinations in astronomy. The story begins in 1920 with a Great Debate over the nature of the spiral nebulae and then retreats to 776 B.C. when a 20-second footrace emblazons a young Greek boy’s name in history throughout the centuries. The length of that race becomes a factor in determining the incredible accuracy with which the Greeks measure the size of the earth and, later, the distance to the moon. Despite the Greeks’ successes, the distances to the sun and planets remain mysteries for 18 centuries until a young mathematician, who dies at age 36, formulates a plan for solving it. Soon, astronomers use similar methods to determine the distances to nearby stars, and needing further reach, rely on the legendary discovery of a female astronomer to solve the Great Debate and begin to unlock the distances to the edge of the observable universe."
PRESENTER'S BIO:
Chuck is current president of the Astronomical League. He founded the League’s National Young Astronomer Award in 1991, received the G. R. Wright Award for service in 1998, coordinates three League observing programs, and holds Master Observer-gold status with 42 programs completed. Chuck is past president of the Louisville Astronomical Society and current program director for the Evansville Astronomical Society. Chuck has presented over 570 public programs and has been active in amateur astronomy since the age of 7.
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ABOUT OUR GENERAL MEETINGS:
On the second Friday of every month, the MVAS has its General Meeting OPEN to ALL (i.e., all its members AND THE PUBLIC). No cost to attend. We gather to listen, discuss, and learn about all things related to amateur astronomy from each other.
Our meetings primarily consist of a short business portion in which the Society's happenings are discussed. The main part of the meeting will be a presentation aimed at educating attendees some new aspect of amateur astronomy, general astronomy, space exploration, or science in general.