Ken Bertin gave the main presentation, on Charles Messier. French astronomer Charles Messier (1730 – 1817) was basically a comet chaser. In his search for comets he discovered that there were many objects in space which could be mistaken for comets. This caused him to make as part of his lifelong work a catalog of deep sky objects including clusters, nebulae and galaxies. He wanted to make sure that future observers would no longer be fooled by these objects. Starting in 1758, he developed his famous catalog and for the rest of his life added to it. This presentation will highlight his life and particularly the development of his catalog.
Ken has been a member of the Warren Astronomical Society since the late 70s. He has held the office of VP and President. During his term as vice president, he developed the speaker forum which we use presently. During his administration as president he expanded the board to seven members from its original five, adding Outreach Director and Publications Director. Ken also added the “In the News” segment to our meetings which keeps the membership updated on new developments in the field of astronomy. Ken has observed 10 total solar eclipses, four annular eclipses and numerous lunar eclipses. Once a year, he develops a presentation on an historical astronomer and to date there have been a total of 15 such presentations. In 2001, he was awarded the John Searles Award and last year was presented with a lifetime membership. He has been studying astronomy for over 60 years. He considers it a passion, not a hobby.
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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.
