Location
Santa Fe, New Mexico
History of Santa Fe
Santa Fe was first occupied by Pueblo Indian villagers between 1050 and 1150. However, the "Kingdom of New Mexico" was first claimed for the Spanish Crown by the conquistador Don Francisco Vasques de Coronado in 1540. Coronado and his men also discovered the Grand Canyon and the Great Plains on their New Mexico expedition. In 1610 Don Pedro de Peralta was appointed Governor and established the capital at present day Santa Fe. In 2010 Santa Fe is celebrating its 400th Anniversary.
From 1692 to 1821 Santa Fe grew and prospered as a city. Spanish authorities and missionaries - under pressure from constant raids by nomadic Indians and often bloody wars with the Comanches, Apaches and Navajos - formed an alliance with Pueblo Indians and maintained a successful religious and civil policy of peaceful coexistence.
The Spanish enforced a policy of closed empire which meant trade was closed to Americans, British and French. However, on 18 August 1846, in the early period of the Mexican American War, an American army general, Stephen Watts Kearny, took Santa Fe and raised the American flag over the Plaza.
Throughout Santa Fe's long and varied history of conquest and frontier violence, the town has also been the region's seat of culture and civilization. Inhabitants have left a legacy of architecture and city planning that today makes Santa Fe the most significant historic city in the American West. Thus today Santa Fe is recognized as one of the most intriguing cities in the nation, due largely to the city's preservation of historic buildings and a modern zoning code, passed in 1958 that mandates the city's distinctive Spanish-Pueblo style of architecture. This architecture is based on the adobe (mud and straw) and wood construction of the past.
Santa Fe holds many diverse cultures, has minimal light pollution, big skies and starry nights that will make your heart leap!
Here is a Live Google Map of Santa Fe:
StarLogos Venues
Santa Fe Community College
6401 S Richards Ave
Santa Fe, NM 87508-4887
SFCC's campus is situated on 366 acres off Richards Avenue, south of Rodeo Road. Construction has been guided by a long-range campus development plan, which has enabled the college to create a first-class, state-of-the-art learning environment with modern classrooms, technologically smart labs, a Planetarium and other specialized spaces.
Lectures, tutorials and workshops.
We will be holding lectures in the Jemez Rooms which carry state of the art audio visual equipment, and all lectures will be digitally recorded. Morning and afternoon teas will be served in the foyer outside the Jemez Rooms with views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Lunches will be served in the outside courtyard,
Planetarium.
We will also use the on-site planetarium for a lecture to help you understand the skies you will be looking at later in the evening at the VindHestar Ranch.
VindHestar Ranch
The VindHestar Ranch is located in the Arroyo Hondo district just 20 minutes south-east of the heart of Santa Fe and is owned by local astrologer, horse breeder and artist Janet Carter. VindHestar Ranch offers us a 360 degrees view of the big skies. We will be spending Friday evening at the Ranch, beginning with a catered dinner under the stars, followed by an evening of sky-watching beneath a moonless starry heaven. There is where you will "meet" the stars.
The view from VindHestar Ranch towards the NE, and looking at the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
