Come hang out with us every month and learn something new! SDAA programs feature a wide array of speakers who share their expertise on unique and intriguing astronomy-related topics. We hold most of our meetings virtually via Zoom on the third Wednesday of every month. The meetings start at 7PM and last about one hour. We meet in-person for the March and November meetings at the Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor Center. Programs start with a few key club announcements and include information tailored to our new club members. Our featured speaker follows as the main event. Try your luck at winning SDAA club stickers with the fun astronomy quiz that closes out every meeting. Attendees are encouraged to engage and ask questions after speaker presentations. If you miss a program, you can catch the recordings on the SDAA YouTube page.
Please register in advance for the Zoom meetings at the following link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkf-2rrTgsE9D7YsRX-mGVVgS_ovMJHX5B#/registration
To attend the March and November in-person meetings, head to the Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor Center at One Father Junipero Serra Trail, San Diego, CA 92119. The main gates into the park remain open for our evening meetings, however the Visitor Center doors are not unlocked until 6:30PM. Please drive through the gates and park in either of the two dirt parking lots adjacent to the Visitor Center Building. Once inside the building, head to the Auditorium. Park Rangers can be reached at 619-668-3281 and for more information visit https://mtrp.org/visitor-center/
The SDAA Board welcomes your comments on our presentations! Please contact [email protected] if you have suggestions for future program topics.
November 20, 2024 Program Meeting
Topic: Annual Gadget Night Location: Green Acre Restaurant Treehouse Foyer at Campus Pointe Our Annual Gadget Night is around the corner! We look forward to seeing you face to face at this popular event where members are given the floor to share their favorite gadget! Gadgets can be an item you purchased or made, a concept or idea – just about anything you’d like to share about your astronomy…
October 16, 2024 Program Meeting
Topic: InterferometrySpeaker: Andrew Boden, Ph.D. Caltech Deputy Director for Caltech Optical Observatories Join us for an interesting and relevant talk about astronomical interferometry. An interferometer is a device that expresses the interference of wavelike phenomena and measures properties with high precision, such as are found in astronomy by taking advantage of the “small” *e.g. 500nm – green) wavelength of light. He covers the science of stellar interferometry, including…
September 11, 2024 Program Meeting
Topic: The International Space Station National Laboratory Speakers: Matt Pokross and Christina Cuttitta Is there really a “US National Laboratory” orbiting above that non-NASA scientists can utilize for their research? The answer is, Yes! It’s called the International Space Station National Laboratory, (ISSNL), and it’s been in operation since 2005. Join us September 11th, to hear from two scientists, Matt Pokross and Christina Cuttitta, whose experiments have traveled…
August 21, 2024 Program Meeting
Topic: The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: NASA’s Next Flagship Mission Speaker: Rob Zellem BS, MSc, PhD Dr. Rob Zellem is an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. His research focuses on the characterization of the atmospheres of exoplanets using both the transit and direct imaging methods. Rob is the Deputy Project Scientist for Communications for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope where he is the primary…
July 17, 2024 Program Meeting
Topic: The Grand Canyon Star Party Speaker: SDAA Members https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ciap0ojE7z4
June 22, 2024 Special Meeting!
When: June 22, 1-4pmWhere: The Vault – 9340 Dowdy Drive Suite 102, San Diego, 92126 EVENT DETAILS: The SDAA is thrilled to be announcing amazing news! Come to our event, enjoy free food and drinks, win great door prizes. SDAA Club members and their +1 only. Register Now! Wishing you clear skies, Your SDAA Board of Directors Best regards,SDAA
May 15, 2024 Program Meeting
Topic: A Brief Introduction to Radio Astronomy and Some Powerful, Affordable Radio Telescopes You Can Put in Your Backyard without Irritating Your Family or Neighbors! Speaker: Curt Kinghorn The branch of Astronomy called Radio Astronomy uses radio waves instead of visible light to look at the sky. Interestingly, most of what we know about the universe comes from Radio Astronomy. This presentation gives a brief introduction to Radio…
April 17, 2024 Program Meeting
Topic: Open Mic Member Night to Share Totality Eclipse Adventures! Send your photos, (solar and otherwise), to [email protected] by Sunday, April 14th to have them included in the program slides. Looking forward to seeing everyone’s photos and hearing your stories! The meeting will be held via Zoom. See https://sdaa.org/program-meeting/.
March 20, 2024 Program Meeting
Topic: Totality Eclipse Prep with discussions led by SDAA in-house experts The meeting will be held in-person at Mission Trails Regional Park. See https://sdaa.org/program-meeting/.