ONLINE – General Meeting – August 2020

 ONLINE:  Friday, August 7, 2020

6:30 – 8:00 pm

TAAA is continuing to hold its first Friday Member meetings online. The August 7 meeting at 6:30 P.M. is open to the general public. To view it live, please go to https://www.facebook.com/TucsonAstronomy

6:30 pm – Main Presentation

Title:  Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter & Remote Astrophotography

Speakers:  

• Vannessa Gressieux is the Program Coordinator for the Mt Lemmon SkyCenter SkyNights program, a NASA / JPL Solar System Ambassador, and an OSIRIS REx Ambassador. She supports a variety of Tucson community-based events at schools and public outreach events, and coordinates tours and outreach for the Richard F Caris Mirror Lab. Originally from the East Coast, Vannessa fell in love with the dark skies of the Western US. sky. She encourages everyone to look up!

• Travis Deyoe began working for the SkyCenter as an undergraduate at the UA studying Astronomy. He graduated in May 2015 and has recently taken on an increased role in leading outreach programs. As a student, he worked for the Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium as a Planetarium Operator, and as a Telescope Operator at Steward Observatory’s 61-inch Kuiper Telescope on top of Mount Bigelow. Travis enjoys imaging the night sky with his DSLR and taking planetary images through SkyCenter telescopes.

Tonight’s presentation will be a light overview of the history of the SkyCenter, with a focus on their Remote program. In 2008, Adam Block and the University of Arizona College of Science launched the Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter at Steward Observatory’s Field Station. The mission of the Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter is to engage people of all ages in interdisciplinary scientific exploration at research facilities in the Sky Island environment for a deeper understanding of our Earth and our place within the Universe. The SkyCenter’s educational activities include a public evening observing program, summer Sky Island programs, workshops, camps, remote observing, and special educational events. Our presentation will focus on remote astrophotography capabilities of the Schulman Telescope, and weather permitting, include a live demo of the astrophotography possible.

7:15 pm (Approx) – Second Presentation

Title:  Election of Officers

Speaker:  none

Elections will be held following the presentation. To vote, TAAA members will be requested to register to attend the meeting using a link that will be emailed to them. Following registration approval, you will receive a Zoom link unique to only to you for joining the meeting.