For ages, man has attempted to make sense of the changing aspects of the Sun, Moon, and their possible influence on our ever-changing weather. Can a lack of sunspots ultimately lead to a trend toward colder temperatures? Can the changing phases of the Moon and its distance from Earth lead to stormy periods? Or do the movements of the planets have any control over our climate and weather? Can we really put any credence in the forecasts that are issued annually by such publications as the Old Farmer’s Almanac or by other so-called long-range weather experts? The answers may surprise you!

Joe Rao is an eight-time Emmy-nominated broadcast meteorologist and author on astronomy and space subjects for such widely diverse publications as Reader’s Digest, Sky & Telescope, The Farmers’ Almanac, Space.com, Natural History, and Weatherwise magazine. Since 1986 he has served as an associate astronomer and guest lecturer at New York’s American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium. In 2008, Joe was bestowed the Popular Writing Award of the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society for his article “Shades of Glory – My whirlwind tour to the North Pole and back for 175 seconds of totality,” published in the October 2008 issue of Natural History. And in 2009, he received the prestigious Walter Scott Houston Award of the North East Region of the Astronomical League (NERAL) in recognition for over 40 years of service to amateur and professional astronomy. He has recently penned a research paper, published in two astronomical journals, which suggests a possible outburst of meteors may result from Earth's interaction with debris from a disintegrating comet next spring.

This program is co-sponsored by the Astronomical Society of Greenwich.

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Michele Martin

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mmartin@greenwichlibrary.org