Mr. James Roe, formerly of the McDonnell Astronomy Club, will be featured
at the June meeting of the Saint Louis Astronomical Society.
The revolution that
has swept through astronomy, the oldest of the
sciences, extends to amateur astronomers as well as to professionals.
Amateur telescopes can seek out interesting objects, guided by built-in
computer rather than by a human operator. Amateur telescopes can be
comparable in size and superior in capability to mid-sized professional
instruments of a few decades ago. Digital image acquisition and processing,
developed for astronomy before other commercial and home applications,
has made amateur telescopes more powerful and sophisticated than was
envisioned, even a few years ago. Mr. Roe will talk about the technical
revolution in telescope instrumentation, and how this has affected the
amateur astronomer. He is an experienced observer and astrophotographer,
as well as a member of the Astronomical league and past president of
the McDonnell Astronomy Club. Mr. Roe is currently a missionary, serving
in Oaxaca, Mexico.