Organization:  VENTURA COUNTY ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Contact Person: Carl Ashley, Publicity Chairman
Contact Phone:  (805) 642-5166
Email:  vcas1@aol.com
Website:  www.vcas.org
Subject: "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Nearby Universe"
Date of event: Friday, November 20, 2009
Time of Event: 7:30 PM
Location of Event: Mesa Union School, 3901 Mesa School Road, Somis CA

For recorded information: contact Starline at (805) 520-9666

The Ventura County Astronomical Society (VCAS) will hold it’s monthly membership
meeting on Friday, November 16th at 7:30 PM in the Multi-Purpose Room at Mesa Union
School, at 3901 Mesa School Road, Somis CA.  The speaker will be Dr. Josh Simon, a
postdoctoral fellow
at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution in Pasadena.  Dr. Simon did his graduate
school at Berkeley and finished his PhD there in 2005, and then moved down to LA for a
postdoctoral fellowship at Caltech.  His presentation entitled "A Hitchhikers Guide To A
Nearby Universe" which will provide an introduction to nearby galaxies, including our own
Milky Way, and then focus on the mysterious substance called dark matter that makes up
most of the universe.  He will describe how observations with our most advanced telescopes
are giving astronomers new clues to exactly what this invisible matter is.  This meeting
will present an excellent opportunity to hear from an expert about anything that goes on
in nearby galaxies. The public is invited to join us for a very interesting evening
learning about our Universe.