Message From AAA’s President – July 2021

Hello everyone and happy July!

How many of you are familiar with the Hittite society of ancient Turkey? And more particularly with the Hittite site of Yazilikaya?

Few if any of you, I would guess.

Don’t feel bad though— this is not intended to make you wonder why news sites incessantly report on Kim Kardashian, but not primordial human achievements.

Instead, I mention Yazilikaya to piece together why we are here as members and interested parties of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York. Astronomy is all about the basic human concepts of exploration and understanding: Why are we here? How did we get here? What else is out there? And perhaps most importantly, what is this giant universe that we are all a part of?

Well, the people of Hattusa wondered the same things. And today, archeologists who are excavating Yazilikaya believe that the site was built with the purpose of telling the story of the cosmos, as it was understood at the time.

While deities may be part of the story the site tells, it also speaks of stars, the Moon, and seasons. Today, we look up at the sky using the most advanced observational equipment ever made, but in essence, we are looking up at the sky just as our progenitors had, sharing the common human desire to learn, understand, and appreciate.

It is this human commonality which AAA takes its greatest pride in. Please be sure to visit our site at AAA.org, and participate in as many activities as you desire.

Keep the human flame burning!