Join Tumacacori National Historical Park and the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association for an evening of Astronomy Star Gazing from 6 – 8 PM. You will see planets, nebulae, star clusters, double stars, and lots more. Weather dependent — Follow the event on the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association Facebook Page to get weather and real-time updates.
Astronomy Fundamentals Meeting – November 2017
Stephen Ferris will discuss Star Clusters. The “Constellation of the Month” will be determined later.
General Meeting – November 2017
Total Solar Eclipse Night! Everyone’s invited. From 6:30 P.M. to 9:00 or so, the entire meeting is devoted to TAAA members sharing photos and experiences from the great Total Solar Eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017.
Pima County Library Astronomy
An event supporting the main branch (Joel V Valdez) of the Pima County Library. The event is called: Observe the Moon Costume Party. This is open to the public and we hope you will wear a costume. Also, the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association will donate a small telescope to the Library to be available for checking out. Come join us and the Pima County Library for a fun evening of observing the moon with their new telescope.
General Meeting – October 2017
6:30 pm – Introductory Presentation
Title: The Fall Night Sky
Presenter: Dr. Mary Turner
TAAA’s Chief Observer, Mary Turner, takes us on a tour of the fall night sky, with a quarterly look at celestial objects and some skylore.
Main Presentation: 7:30 P.M.
Title: A Tale of Epsilon Eridani – How Debris Disks Tell Us about Exoplanetary Systems
Presenter: Dr. Kate Su, astronomer from Steward Observatory
Epsilon Eridani, a young solar-like star—at a distance of 10.5 light years from the Sun—is one of the closest stars with a planetary system. Dr. Su’s talk will focus on how astronomers use the emission from orbiting dust to reveal the underlying planetary architecture of Epsilon Eridani. Her main research—with the goal of understanding the origin and evolution of our own solar system—involves interpreting data obtained from ground-based telescopes around the globe, as well as from space telescopes and the airborne observatory SOFIA.
Astronomy Fundamentals Meeting – October 2017
Come join us for a presentation from the fundamentals of amateur astronomy. At the October meeting Dennis McMacken will demonstrate the Collimation of a Dobsonian Telescope.
The “Constellation of the Month” will be Pegasus. Bill Yohey will do the presentation.
Astronomy Fundamentals Meeting – September 2017
Branden Dickerson will provide us with “A Non-Mathematical Introduction to Relativity”. The “Constellation of the Month”, will be Sagittarius. Bill Yohey will do the presentation, delayed from August.
General Meeting – September 2017
Introductory Presentation: More Eclipse Tales
Presenter: Alex Filippenko
We will show the second Alex Filippenko lecture called “More Eclipse Tales,” from his Understanding the Universe DVD course. Following that, we’ll hear some members share their Total Solar Eclipse 2017 experiences. (Members’ photos of the eclipse will be shown in November. We’ll talk about how to participate.)
Main Presentation: Satellite Galaxies and Dwarfs in the Local Group
Presenter: Ekta Patel
Ekta will begin by reviewing the current classification system used by astronomers to identify different types of galaxies. She will then present an overview of satellite galaxies, including what they are, how they were discovered, and how astronomers use them to understand the evolution and formation of our own Milky Way galaxy and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. She will explain the current research she is conducting using computer simulations of the Universe to further study satellite galaxies in a context beyond the scope of what observations alone can teach us.
Astronomy Fundamentals Meeting – August 2017
This month Ruth Gomez will give us some fascinating information about “Eclipse Superstitions and Myths”. The “Constellation of the Month” is Sagittarius.
General Meeting – August 2017
Title: Science at the 2017 Eclipse: The Citizen CATE Experiment
Presenter: Matt Penn, Ph.D., National Solar Observatory
The summer’s total eclipse presents a special opportunity for a group of citizen scientists including scientists, high school students, and educators. The Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) Experiment will monitor the outer atmosphere of the sun, the corona, using a network of 68 identical telescopes located at various places along the path of totality.