We do not have a constellation of the month for this meeting, so our only topic for the night will be on Historical Women in Astronomy, by Doug Smith.

Constellation of the Month:  

Hydrus

Presenter:  David Evans

David Evans will be highlighting the southern constellation Hydrus.

Main Presentation:  

Astronomer William Herschel

Presenter:  Connor Justice

Connor Justice will be providing the main topic on astronomer William Herschel, who discovered Uranus.

TAAA’s next general member meeting will be held online, on Friday, November 5, 2021. The Main Presentation starts at 6:30 P.M. NON-MEMBERS may attend via Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/TucsonAstronomy/.                             MEMBERS should attend the meeting via Zoom.

6:30 pm – Main Presentation

Title:  David Levy’s two astronomy careers:  Rewards and Challenges

Presentation:  Over the course of the last 60 years, David Levy has followed two different paths to the night sky.  In his own words, “One is the observing, the search for comets, which includes the discoveries of 21 comets including Shoemaker-Levy 9.   The other relates the night sky to English Literature.  This lecture will cover the joys and the challenges of this double-pronged approach to the night sky, in which the first grabs my heart, and the second touches my soul.”

Presenter:  David Levy is arguably one of the most enthusiastic and famous amateur astronomers of our time.  Although he has never taken a class in astronomy, he has written over three dozen books, written for three astronomy magazines and appeared on television programs featured on the Discovery and the Science Channels.  Among David’s accomplishments are 23 comet discoveries, the most famous being Shoemaker-Levy 9 that collided with Jupiter in 1994, a few hundred shared asteroid discoveries, an Emmy for the documentary Three Minutes to Impact, five honorary doctorates in Science and a PhD which combines astronomy and English Literature.  Currently, he is the editor of the web magazine Sky’s Up!, and has a monthly column, Skyward, in the Vail Voice community newspaper. David continues to hunt for comets and asteroids, and lectures worldwide.

6:30 pm – Main Presentation

Title:  Searching for Earth-Twin Exoplanets with the NEID Spectrometer

Over the past three decades astronomers have discovered a menagerie of exoplanets around nearby stars, and it is now clear that planets form with a breadth of characteristics barely hinted at by the planets in our solar system. The goal of finding and characterizing rocky, Earth-like planets remains paramount, but until recently has been hampered by astronomical instruments lacking the sensitivity required to detect signals from these small bodies. A new class of spectroscopic instruments, including the NASA and NSF (National Science Foundation) funded NEID spectrometer at the 3.5 meter WIYN telescope on Kitt Peak, is now coming online, and for the first time will start probing nearby stars for Earth twins.

NEID is dedicated to high precision radial velocity (RV) observations of exoplanets. The RV (or Doppler) effect depends on a planet causing a tiny gravitational pull on the star it orbits, causing the star to “wobble” which can be noted as changes in its spectrum.  In his talk, Dr. Chad Bender will describe the technology enabling these new searches, and what is to come over the next few years as astronomers push the limits of sensitivity lower and lower towards the goal of finding planets like our own.

Presenter:  Dr. Chad Bender is an instrument builder and observational astronomer, studying how planets and planetary systems form and evolve. He has spent the past decade designing and building two extreme precision radial velocity (RV) spectrometers that are now in operation. Earlier this summer, his team completed construction of NEID, which is now the most precise RV spectrometer in the United States, and which has begun a survey of nearby Sun-like stars to search for Earth-like planets. Dr. Bender received his Ph.D. in 2006, and is currently an Associate Astronomer at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory.

7:30 pm (approximately) – Seasonal Night Sky Presentation

Dr. Mary Turner will present her popular Fall Night Sky Presentation.

TAAA’s next general member meeting will be held on Friday, September 3, 2021, and available online. The Main Presentation starts at 6:30 P.M and is open to the public. A Members Only Meeting will follow. Non-members may attend the Main Presentation via Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/TucsonAstronomy/.  Members should attend the meeting via Zoom.

6:30 pm – Main Presentation

Title:  NEO Surveyor Mission: Why Does It Matter?

Presentation:  University of Arizona astronomer and professor Dr. Amy Mainzer will talk about the new NASA mission she is leading; the Near Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission. NEO Surveyor is an infrared space telescope designed to expand our ability to find, track, and characterize asteroids and comets that may pose a threat to Earth. Objects are considered NEOs if they come within 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit. By identifying these objects when they are decades away, we will potentially be able to mitigate their danger by pushing them out of the way.

Presenter:  Dr. Amy Mainzer serves as the Principal Investigator for NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission, an Earth-orbiting satellite that uses infrared sensors to characterize asteroids and comets. She is also leading NASA’s Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission, currently in development, which will carry out a comprehensive survey of the most potentially hazardous NEOs. Dr. Mainzer is currently the Chair of the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS), the world’s largest professional society of planetary scientists. She also serves as the Chair of NASA’s Planetary Advisory Committee (PAC). She was the science consultant, co-executive producer, and on-camera host of the PBS Kids television show Ready Jet Go!, which aimed to teach basic physics, Earth science, and astronomy to children ages 3-8. She was in the 2016 documentary, “For the Love of Spock”, directed by Adam Nimoy (Leonard Nimoy’s son) and several episodes of the History Channel’s “The Universe” series.