Presenter: Gus Gomez
Gus Gomez will be leading with our main topic on binocular observing.
Presenter: Connor Justice
Connor Justice will be presenting on Johaan Bayer and Nicolas Lacaille for our astronomer of the month.
Presenter: Doug Smith
Doug Smith will be presenting the main topic for the night on Telescope Collimation with a focus on Reflectors.
Presenter: Connor Justice
Afterwards, Connor Justice would like to show an astronomy related app prototype.
Presenter: Connor Justice
Connor Justice will be presenting our Astronomer of the month presentation on Edward Barnard.
Presenter: Pete Hermes
Pete Hermes will be discussing Carbon Stars.
Presenter: Doug Smith
This month Doug Smith will be presenting on Japanese Astronomers for our ongoing Astronomer of the Month series.
Presenter: Stephen Ferris
For our main topic, Stephen Ferris will be discussion the last part of his series on Large Telescopes.
Presenter:
We will not be having an astronomer of the month presentation.
Presenter: Connor Justice
This month our main topic is on Nebula’s and the variants presented by Connor Justice.
Presenter: Douglas Smith
Doug Smith will be continuing our ongoing series of Astronomer of the month on notable Far East Indian astronomers.
Presenter: Connor Justice
Connor Justice will do presenting the main topic on notable astronomy events that will be occurring in 2023.
Presentation: While we all look forward to totality in 2024, a great observing opportunity presents itself to amateur astronomers in the U.S. this fall. An annular eclipse (when a ring of the Sun’s disk surrounds the Moon) will touch the Pacific coast and track across eight states before moving into the Gulf of Mexico. The path of this annular eclipse isn’t that far from Tucson. Michael Bakich’s talk will cover the details about an event that won’t happen again in the 48 states until 2046.
Bio: Michael E. Bakich was Senior Editor of Astronomy magazine for 17 years before retiring in 2019. He and his wife, Holley, then realized their lifelong dream and moved to Tucson. Michael continues work for the magazine as Contributing Editor. He has authored 14 books on astronomy, including Atlas of Solar Eclipses: 2020-2045.
Presentation: In this talk, University of Arizona astronomer Kevin Hainline will discuss the exciting first year of NASA’s flagship space observatory: the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). He’ll share stories from his time working on the observatory, and discuss highlights from the wealth of data that JWST has brought us: awe-inspiring planets, nearby nebulae, baby stars, and the farthest galaxies humans have ever seen.
Bio: Dr. Kevin Hainline is an astronomy professor and researcher on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRCam science team at The University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory. His research focuses on hunting for hidden supermassive black holes, and he’s currently using JWST to find and understand the most extreme, distant galaxies in the early universe. He received his PhD from UCLA in 2012 and spent three years as a researcher and professor at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire before moving to Tucson to work on JWST. Kevin has a passion for science outreach education, and has spoken about astronomy and our relation to the stars at events around the world.
PRESENTATION: According to author and educator, Bob King, you don’t need a telescope to explore the underpinnings of the universe. A pair of eyes will do. In this month’s presentation, Bob will share three visual observing projects — exploring Earth’s shadow; observing and measuring naked-eye sunspots and getting a sense of the Milky Way Galaxy’s three-dimensional structure. As he explains, “Through close examination of the natural world, we open ourselves to the possibility of discovery, whether that means gaining a new perspective or noticing new details in familiar phenomena.”
BIO: Bob King fell in love with the night sky and astronomy when he was a kid and loves to share his passion with people of all ages through teaching and public observing. A graduate of the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana), he’s a long-time member of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), a community educator, writes the monthly Celestial Calendar for Sky & Telescope magazine as well as the Explore the Night blog for their website. Bob also pens the long-time blog called Astro Bob, which he started in 2008. He comes to us tonight via zoom from Duluth, Minnesota, on the north shore of Lake Superior.
PRESENTATION: Avid stargazer and amateur astronomer, Tim Hunter, will talk about his recently published book, The Sky At Night (University of Arizona Press); how it came about from 750 Sky Spy astronomy columns—15 years worth—in Thursday’s Caliente, the Arizona Daily Star’s weekly entertainment section. Learn about his adventures, both the joys and aggravations, of being an astronomy columnist, including some of his most memorable mistakes and foibles. Tim will also discuss what it takes to write and get a book into print; the pros and cons of different paths to publishing. He will donate several copies of The Sky At Night to TAAA.
BIO: Tim Hunter has been an amateur astronomer since 1950, and is the owner of two observatories, the 3towers Observatory and the Grasslands Observatory (http://www.3towers.com). In his own words, he is also “a prime example of someone whose hobby has run amok, spending more time and money on it than common sense would dictate.” Tim has been the President of the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association, Inc. (TAAA) and a member of the TAAA since 1975. He is also the immediate past Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Planetary Science Institute (PSI). Since 1986, Tim Hunter has been interested in the growing problem of light pollution. In 1987, he and Dr. David Crawford founded the International Dark-Sky Association, Inc. (IDA). IDA is a nonprofit corporation devoted to promoting quality outdoor lighting and combatting the effects of light pollution. And since 2007, Tim has written the weekly “Sky Spy” column for the Caliente Section of the Arizona Daily Star for 16 years. Asteroid 6398 is named Timhunter.