Astronomy Fundamentals

The Astronomy Fundamentals group is dedicated to helping TAAA members enhance and expand their knowledge and enjoyment of astronomy through basic education and hands-on activities.

Please join us at our monthly meetings, or if you are unable to attend, you can review some of the topics covered in the following videos. Note some of the presentations were recorded with two topics for the night. You may have to scroll forward to the minutes marked next to a particular presentation as indicated below:

OBJECTS

Asterisms (Peter Hermes 2021) at 35 min

Carbon Stars (Peter Hermes)

Hidden Structure of the Milky Way (Connor Justice 2021) at 19 min

Nebula and Their Variants (Connor Justice 2023)

NGC Catalog (Connor Justice 2021) at 20 min

Star Classification – Main Sequence (Connor Justice 2021)

Star Classification – Extreme Stars (Connor Justice 2021)

Star Classifications – Neutron Stars and White Dwarfs (Connor Justice 2022) at 35 minutes

White Dwarfs and Neutron Stars (Connor Justice 2021) at 34 min

ASTROMOMERS

Astronomers between Ptolomey and Copernicus (Peter Hermes 2022)

Edward Barnard (Connor Justice 2022)

Johannes Bayer and Nicolas Lacaille (Connor Justice 2023)

Sir Arthur Eddington (Peter Hermes 2022)

Japanese Astronomers (Doug Smith 2023)

Johannes Kepler (Doug Smith 2020) at 25 min

Gerard Kuiper (Doug Smith 2022)

William Herschel (Connor Justice 2021)

Edwin Hubble (Connor Justice 2022)

Indian Astronomers (Doug Smith 2023)

Ptolemy (Peter Hermes 2022)

Giovanni Schiaparelli (Connor Justice 2022)

Women in Astronomy History (Doug Smith 2021)

CONSTELLATIONS

Chameleon (Dave Evans 2021)

Fornax (Doug Smith 2021)

Hydra (David Evans 2021) at 23 min

Grus and Pictor (Doug Smith 2021) at 4 min

Libra and Norma (Peter Hermes 2021)

Lynx (Doug Smith 2021)

Musca (Doug Smith 2021)

Octans and Pavo (Connor Justice 2022)

Phoenix (Dave Evans 2021) at 4 min

Serpens Cauda and Serpens Caput (Connor Justice 2021)

Volans and Horologium (Peter Hermes 2021)

Vulpecula & Lacerta (Connor Justice 2020)

PLANETS major, minor and moons

Lunar Craters (Doug Smith 2022) at 38 min

Lunar Evolution (Doug Smith 2023) at 30 min

Mercury (Doug Smith 2021) at 45 min

Neptune and Uranus (Doug Smith 2021) at 22 min

Pluto and Charon (Stephen Ferris 2021)

Titan (Stephen Ferris 2021) at 25 min

Venus (Doug Smith 2020)

GENERAL TOPICS

Astronomical Distances (Doug Smith 2023)

Binoculars (Gus Gomez 2023)

Celestial Events 2023 (Connor Justice) at 31 min

Celestron Hand Controller (Connor Justice 2022) at 33 min

Collimation of Reflector Telescopes (Doug Smith)

History of Large Telescopes (Stephen Ferris 2022)

History of Large Telescopes – Part 3 (Stephen Ferris 2023) at 36 min

Man in Universe (Doug Smith 2022) at 22 min

Meteor Showers (Connor Justice 2022) at 35 min

Recent Research News (Connor Justice 2021)