Astronomy and Heavenly Food at St. Luke's Episcopal Church May 17

St. Luke's Episcopal Church at 313 Main Street in Chester is pleased to host its second Saturday Night Supper on Saturday, May 17, beginning at 6 p.m. with a dinner of Heavenly Dishes and Desserts for $6 for adults and $3 for children 5-10. Our guest will be Claudio Veliz, award-winning architect and instructional/research astronomer. He has owned his own design firm since 1982, designing homes, loft renovations, corporate headquarters, retail, commercial and institutional projects in the US, Australia and Europe and, shortly, Japan. His self-taught astronomical passions secured the attention of the Astronomy Department at Columbia University where, in 1991, he was invited to teach for 5 years during which time he also managed the Public Observing Program. He is a member of the American Assn. of Variable Star Observers, the International Occultation Timing Assn. and is founder and current President of the Southern Vermont Astronomy Group, Inc. (SoVerA)

Claudio will present "Finding Sister Earth." It is the hottest topic unfolding today in the realm of astronomy. What's stirring all this speculation and excitement? How are we finding these new distant planets? How close to Earth in character are they, anyway? If we do find a duplicate of our planet, how would we get there? Is it worth even thinking about? What have we really found so far and what can we know about them? We will cover the basics of how these orbs are found and talk of their distances and what they could mean generations hence. A brief and simple review of spectroscopic and astrometric methods will be discussed, and Claudio will give us a sense of the scale of our nearby universe as well.

Come, bring the family and enjoy a sparkling evening of heavenly food and astronomy with the expert.