Come join us for a presentation from the fundamentals of amateur astronomy.

Kay Lehman will talk about the northern constellation Cetus.

Followed by Doug Smith who will be giving a break down on The Mechanics of Clock Drives  for our main presentation.

Email:  fundamentals[at]tucsonastronomy.org

6:30 pm – Introductory Presentation

Title:  Seasonal Night Sky Objects

Speaker:  Mary Turner, PhD

Mary Turner, TAAA’s appointed Chief Observer, takes us on an early tour of the upcoming winter night sky. As usual in her popular talks, Mary’s use of astronomical data, images, and mythology brings the seasonal changes in the sky to life.

7:30 pm – Main Presentation

Title:  Are We Alone: Extraterrestrial Technological Life in Our Galaxy

Speaker:  Dr. Robert Strom is Professor Emeritus at the University of Arizona. Retired after 36 years of teaching and research at UA, Dr. Strom remains active in research; his main interest is the planets, global warming, and exoplanet life. Dr. Strom holds numerous awards, including six from NASA, as well as the Career Distinguished Teaching Award from UA. He’s been part of many Imaging and other Science Teams for space missions, and brings us a wealth of knowledge, experience, and wisdom.

In Dr. Strom’s talk, he evaluates the number of technological civilizations likely to currently be in the Milky Way Galaxy, and presents a thought-provoking argument for why we are almost surely not alone. He begins with our current estimated number of Earth-like planets in the habitable region of Sun-like stars; about 6.6 billion. Using a modified Drake Equation and six constraints, he gives estimates that are “optimistic”, “pessimistic” and “unlikely.” Even “unlikely” values give over 600 technological civilizations in the Milky Way. Furthermore, almost all of their extra-solar system technologies are probably much more advanced than ours. For a lively talk and discussion, join us on September 7^th.

Gus Gomez will start the evening off with a talk on defunct constellation Argo Navis, followed by Rob Halberg who will be discussing the astronomer Copernicus  for our main presentation.

6:30 pm – Introductory Presentation

Title:  Member’s Night

Speaker:  various TAAA members

 Reports by several TAAA members on a variety of topics.

7:30 pm – Main Presentation

Title:  The night sky of planet Vulcan: Exozodiacal light observations with the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT)

Speaker:  Dr. Steve Ertel is a German astronomer now working at Steward Observatory. He studies planetary systems through observations of their dust similar to that in our Solar System’s Kuiper Belt, Asteroid Belt, and zodiacal dust. He also studies the fate of planetary systems as their host stars evolve into giant stars and white dwarfs. Steve received his Ph.D. from the University of Kiel, Germany. He has worked as an observational astronomer at the University of Grenoble, France, and at the European Southern Observatory, Chile. As the instrument scientist of the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer at Mt. Graham, AZ, he leads the NASA-funded HOSTS survey for exozodiacal dust around nearby stars

Zodiacal light is one of the most elusive features of our night sky; visible in the West after dusk and in the East before dawn as a large cone of faint light stretching from the horizon along the ecliptic. Arizona’s dark skies make it ideal for observing its cause; sunlight scattered from zodiacal dust particles near Earth’s orbit. Surely, the night skies of many Earth-like exoplanets must show a similar feature. Studying exozodiacal dust can give us insights into their architecture, specifically for those exoplanets in the habitable zone. At the same time, the dust poses an obstacle to imaging habitable exoplanets with a large space telescope, one of NASA’s primary future goals. Dr. Ertel will present the efforts using the LBT to detect and study exozodiacal dust. He will also talk more broadly about how the LBT’s interferometer makes it the first 30-meter class telescope on Earth.

Come join us for a presentation from the fundamentals of amateur astronomy. Connor Justice will be discussing the constellation Virgo, followed by Doug Smith who will talk about the History of Astrophotography for our main presentation.

Topics to  be determined.

Main Presentation:

Jupiter and it’s Moons

Presenter:  Stephen Ferris

Constellation of the Month:

Crux

Presenter:  Doug Smith

Doug Smith will start the evening off with a talk on the southern constellation Crux.

About the Astronomy Fundamentals SIG

The Astronomy Fundamentals Special Interest Group, is for all TAAA members, both new  and old, who want to learn about and share the multiple aspects of the hobby.

Meeting Location

The USGS Building is on the northeast corner of Park and 6th Street.  Free parking is available nearby after 5pm.

Contact Connor Justice at fundamentals[at]tucsonastronomy.org