May 2016 Meeting: Our Place in the Cosmos - John Wunderlin

John Wunderlin, who has been an active amateur astronomer for more than a decade, spoke on "Our Place in the Cosmos" at the Uplands Garden Club May meeting.

His talk included commentary on our planet's place in the universe, celestial objects, constellations, and featured "astro-photos" of the sky over Mineral Point that he made himself.

John ended his presentation with a delightful French horn performance set to an astrophotography slideshow. This was only the second performance of the piece entitled Universal Sketches written by Nick Fife. The premier was his master’s degree final at UW/Madison.

John moved to Madison from Mineral Point to study French Horn performance because it was on his Bucket List. Now that he’s graduating, he will give lessons, and look for a position in the musical field. (Of course, while maintaining All-Pro Software, his software development business.)
He is currently Principal Horn in the Beloit/Janesville Symphony Orchestra. His lovely French Horn was handmade in Europe.

For a special treat John very graciously set up a telescope outside the Stonefield Apartments for viewing of the night sky after our meeting. And luckily, Mother Nature cooperated with a perfect clear night for star gazing! About 15 people took advantage of the viewing and were able to see 4 different celestial bodies, including Jupiter and 4 moons.

John has given his popular astronomy presentations at schools, parks, churches, and for civic organizations throughout the area.  Until recently, he lived in Mineral Point, where he built a home observatory and imaged hundreds of celestial objects; several of them have won imaging contests on CloudyNights.

In 2006, John and David Oesper founded the Iowa County Astronomers Club, which now boasts more than 100 members on their email list and which meets monthly to discuss astronomical news and to observe the night sky. In addition to Iowa County Astronomers, John is also a member of Wyalusing StarSplitters and the Madison Astronomical Society.  John operates an All Sky camera as part of the Sandia National Laboratories SkySentinel program, which collects meteor data for scientists to help understand and categorize meteor showers.   He estimates that more than 10,000 people have looked through his telescopes at public events.  John also runs a small business selling astrophotography equipment on his website, spike-a.com.

Thank you John for a very special program at our May meeting!