Time to say “Good Bye” to Winter, and to our Winter Programs! But before we go, let’s take a last look at a few things we may have missed since the beginning of Winter, on that fascinating Winter Solstice with the Great Conjunction in December. On occasion of the Vernal Equinox, we plan to share […]
Say “Good Bye” to Winter on April 3rd Read More »
Speaker: Dr. Daniel Apai – Steward Observatory Topic: Exoplanets / Astrobiology Dr. Daniel Apai is a recent recipient of NASA’s ICAR Astrobiology grant. This is an inaugural effort focusing on the challenging questions in astrobiology. Daniel’s research focuses on exoplanets, with a particular emphasis on habitable planets and planetary systems. Heleads large programs to understand
March 17, 2021 Program Meeting Read More »
The SDAA banquet is scheduled for February 20, 2021 from 6:15 PM to 9:00 PM and we’d love for you to join us! Due to the ongoing Covid restrictions, we’ll be holding the event via Zoom, but we’re still going to offer dinner, a great guest speaker, and our very own Mike Chasin as Master
Thursday, February 18⋅19:00 – 21:00 Virtual Star Party via YouTube Livestream! Yes! The OakOasis County Preserve has invited us to return to host yet another livestream event. This evening we will use this wonderful dark site to pay tribute to the venerable Sir Patrick Caldwell-Moore, host of the BBC television series, The Sky at Night, author
Stars at OakOasis-YouTube Live Read More »
Speaker: Jimmy Lilly – Steward Observatory Topic: Identifying Prestellar Cores in Molecular Clouds Jimmy Lilly was a 2019-2020 Lucas Scholarship recipient and majored in Astronomy / Physics. He graduated in May 2020. He works with Yancy Shirley from the Department of Astronomy on “Characterizing Physical Properties Associated with Hierarchical Structure in Star-Forming Regions.”
February 17, 2021 Program Meeting Read More »
Speaker: Maria Galloway-Sprietsma – Steward Observatory Topic: Pulsar Timing Maria Galloway-Sprietsma is a Lucas Scholarship recipient 2020-2021. She is working with Dr. Yancy Shirley, Steward Observatory on a study of deuterated ammonia (NH2D) in star-forming region Cepheus L1251. They hope to explore the possibilities of using deuterated ammonia as a dense gas tracer, and believe
January 20, 2021 Program Meeting Read More »
SDAA YouTube Live Stream EventMonday, December 21 – 17:00-18:00Hosted by Gary Hawkins & Dave Decker The Great Conjunction It has been almost 400 years since Jupiter and Saturn were so close to each other, and approximately 800 years since the phenomenon takes place at night, this will make it visible in almost every part of
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Dr. Alex Ji: The First Stars Dr. Alex Ji is a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Observatories. Alex is a near-field cosmologist, studying nearby stars and galaxies to understand the first stars and galaxies, the origin of the elements, and the history of the Milky Way. Alex’s main lockdown activity has been eating Trader Joe’s
Dec 16, 2020 Program Meeting Read More »
Speaker: Ryan Rubenzahl – Caltech Topic: Measuring the Speed of Stars More Precisely Than Your Car’s Speedometer The “doppler method” of detecting planets orbiting other stars requires precise measurements of the speeds of those distant stars. If we can see a star oscillating towards and away from us, we can infer that an unseen planet
November 18, 2020 Program Meeting Read More »
Speaker: Mia de Los Reyes Topic: The Loneliest Galaxies in the Universe Most of the matter in the universe is located in long and thin structures called “cosmic filaments” that stretch across the universe in web-like formations. However, some galaxies live in the much emptier spaces between cosmic filaments, called cosmic voids. By comparing the
October 21, 2020 Program Meeting Read More »