Auburn Astronomical Society

Logo Interpretation

When Keith Hudson founded the Auburn Astronomical Society in September of 1980, he wanted a logo for the society that he felt would most accurately reflect his perception of the society's place in the universe. He came up with this design based on the perspective of amateur astronomers in the Auburn area, looking progressively farther out into the universe.
 

  • The circular shape suggests a view through the eyepiece.
  • In the foreground is the clock tower of Samford Hall on the Auburn University campus, the most familiar landmark in the area.
  • Next, is our nearest celestial neighbor. The slender crescent Moon, is shown being eclipsed by the tower steeple.
  • Beyond the moon, we see a planet, perhaps Venus or Jupiter, representing the next step outward in the solar system.
  • Near the planet are a couple of naked-eye stars, our nearest stellar neighbors in our galaxy.
  • The most distant feature visable are the unresolved stars of the Milky-Way. The "Great Rift" of dust paritally obscures the Milky-Way; the same as the dust lanes we see in edge-on galaxies through the telescope.
  • Unseen beyond the Milky-Way is the rest of the universe, invisable to the naked-eye.
The Society's motto is: "We have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."
Except for the word "We," which was substituted  for the word "I," this sentence comes from a Sarah Williams poem.