The Twin City Amateur Astronomers (TCAA) will host the North Central Region Astronomical League (NCRAL) meeting at Heartland Community College (HCC) in Normal, IL, on Friday/Saturday, April 29/30, 2016.

There will be contributed talks, “unconference” discussions, and both a tour and mission at HCC’s Challenger Learning Center on Friday evening. Registrants will visit the observatories of the TCAA at Sugar Grove Nature Center on Saturday, and receive solar eclipse viewers and a 2017 eclipse booklet prepared by a well-known astronomy educator. Invited speakers on Saturday include the following:

• Dr. Michael Reynolds, author, Dean, and Adjunct Astronomy Professor at Florida State College who will speak about the many total solar eclipses that he has observed.
• Mr. Michael Borman of the Evansville Astronomical Society who will speak about solar photography.
• Dr. Carl J. Wenning of the TCAA who will speak about the local circumstances of the 2017 total solar eclipse.
• Mr. Tom Weiland & Mr. Dave Osenga of the TCAA who will speak about making your own solar funnel for eclipse watching.
• Mr. Tim Stone of the TCAA who will speak about the work of the club’s twin observatories at Sugar Grove Nature Center.

To get on our email list for future announcements, write the meeting chairman at carlwenning@gmail.com