This month at the SAS general meeting, Professor Matthew Geske of Gonzaga University tells us all about the universe’s “ghost particles”. Neutrinos are often referred to a “ghost particles” due to how difficult they are to detect. When massive stars reach the end of their lifespan, they often eject much of their mass outward in a stellar explosion called a supernova. All this and more on Friday, September 6th at Riverview Retirement Center!
Midsummer is a tricky time to schedule speakers, so this month we’re going to leave the topic open.
We’ll likely have a general Q&A about astronomical or observing topics, astrophotography or whatever you as members want to talk about. Maybe a video or two about upcoming NASA missions and discussion around that.
If you’re new to astronomy this will be a great time to ask questions or bring in a troublesome telescope and we’ll help get you sorted out.
The 2019 observing season is finally upon us! In this beginner-oriented session, we’ll talk about how to prepare for upcoming star parties and tips on maximizing the use of your binoculars or telescopes. Do you have questions on how to use your telescope? Bring it! We’ll set it up in the lobby and help you figure out how to fix it or use it. Bring your questions and we’ll do our best to answer them as a group.
This month at SFCC Dr. Mendell will share LIGO’s exciting discoveries, including the observation of ten binary black hole mergers and one binary neutron star collision. The latter occurred in NGC 4993, and produced a gamma-ray burst and fireball that was followed up by over 70 telescopes around the world and in space. Friday, April 5th 7:30 pm at the SFCC Planetarium.
Peter Balholm of Spokane will tell an inspirational and cautionary tale about his 12-year project building a spectrohelioscope. The SHS is a specialized telescope for viewing the sun in any visible wavelength, showing not just sunspots but solar prominences and flares.
Our speaker this month is Prof. Guy Worthey from WSU’s Physics and Astronomy Program. Dr. Worthey will speak about stellar populations, galaxy evolution and more. He’s also one of the principal organizers of the Palouse Divide Lodge Star Party, happening in early July 2019. See the event page for more information.
Please join us at our Holiday Potluck on January 4th, 2019 at Riverview Retirement Center. Details (including what to bring) here!
Ever dream of owning a bigger telescope? What if you never had to haul it out of the garage? Or even leave your warm living room to use it?
This month we are pleased to welcome Dr. Michael Allen from WSU. He’ll demonstrate how robotic, remote-controlled telescopes are giving amateur astronomers a new way to observe and learn about the cosmos. Using tools like Skynet and basic image processing we can continue learning and observing all year round.
As astronomers we are sometimes puzzled by the things we observe in the night sky. Most often there’s a ready scientific explanation for the phenomena we observe. But what happens when there isn’t? Director Peter Davenport of the National UFO Reporting Center will recount several odd and chilling tales he’s recorded over the years and also discuss new technical means of improving our understanding of these as-yet unexplained occurrences. Bring your questions, observations and an open mind to the SFCC Planetarium on October 5th!
Valleyfest is Saturday, September 22nd at Mirabeau Point Park! We’ll be talking to the public about who we are and what we do – Astronomy for the fun of it! Come out and see us or better yet, volunteer. We’ll be there setting up at 9pm and stay until evening, longer if the skies are clear!