Monday, 10/28/24 4:00 PM
In-person
Sonoma State University - What Physicists Do
1801 E. Cotati Ave.
Darwin Hall, Room 103
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
Cosmic Alchemy: How Neutron Star Smash-Ups Forge Heavy Atoms
The source of about half of the heaviest elements in the Universe has been a mystery for a long time. The key may lie in the collision of neutron stars??"violent, energetic, and unusual events that we are now beginning to observe. Dr. Enrico Ramirez Ruiz of UC Santa Cruz will present a talk focusing on recent advances in our understanding of the origin of the heaviest and rarest elements in the Universe.
Website: https://phys-astro.sonoma.edu/public-events/what-physicists-do
Cost: Free
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Tuesday, 10/29/24
02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Livestream
UC Berkeley
Register at weblink: https://berkeley.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIsd--prjkqG9LAqG5LJHCQkCEyOdUZq_Xh#/registration
A Case in Favor of Space Exploration -
Aerospace engineering is currently experiencing extraordinary growth driven primarily by space (as opposed to atmospheric) flight. In this seminar, a case will be made about the present and future opportunities associated with space exploration.
Speaker: Panos Papadopoulos, UC Berkeley
Website: https://events.berkeley.edu/brc/event/256544-a-case-in-favor-of-space-exploration
Cost: Free
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Friday, 11/01/24
06:00 PM - 10:00 PM
In-person
Chabot Space and Science Center
10000 Skyline Blvd
Oakland, CA 94619
First Friday: SPOOKY ASTRONOMY
First Friday: SPOOKY ASTRONOMY is creeping up on you with a night of cosmic chills and family thrills! Join us for a frightfully fun evening featuring live music by local band Side Pony and the Homestead High Choir. Get into the Halloween spirit with out-of-this-world space face painting, then head over to our eerie laser dome for a spook-tacular Halloween-themed laser show! Plus, our friends from The MADE are bringing retro gaming fun to the game room. For a spooky treat, don’t miss the live show with horror host Lord Bloodrah??"he’s sure to send chills down your spine. Perfect for all ages, this is one event your family won’t want to miss!
Website: https://chabotspace.org/calendar/first-friday-spooky-astronomy/
Cost: $10 General, $5 kids & seniors, Free members
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Friday, 11/01/24
08:00 PM - 09:30 PM
Pizza in the ISC Rm at 7 PM
In-person
San Mateo Co. Astronomical Soc.
Planetarium
College of San Mateo Bldg 36
1700 W Hillsdale Rd
San Mateo, CA 94402
Fluidic Telescope (FLUTE): Enabling the Next Generation of Large Space Observatories
The future of space-based UV/optical/IR astronomy requires ever larger telescopes. The highest priority astrophysics targets, including Earth-like exoplanets, first generation stars, and early galaxies, are all very faint, which presents a challenge for current and next generation telescopes. Larger telescopes are the primary (if not only) way to address this issue. With mission costs depending strongly on aperture diameter, scaling current space telescope technologies to aperture sizes exceeding 10 meters does not appear economically viable. Without a breakthrough in scalable technologies for larger telescopes, future advances in astrophysics will slow down or even stall.
The FLUTE (Fluidic Telescope) project proposes to overcome the current scaling limitations for space optics via a novel approach based on fluidic shaping in microgravity. This technique has already been successfully demonstrated in a laboratory neutral buoyancy environment, in parabolic microgravity flights, and aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Theoretically scale-invariant, this technique has produced optical components with superb, sub-nanometer surface quality. In this presentation, Dr Edward Balaban will present the results to date and outline the work in progress, including FLUTE mission concepts currently under development that may enable the Next Generation of Large Space Observatories!
Speaker: Edward Balaban, NASA Ames
Website: https://smcas.net/events/speakers/speaker-dr-edward-balaban/
Cost: Free
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Friday, 11/01/24 7PM
In-person
Telescope Makers Workshop
Chabot Space and Science Center
10000 Skyline Boulevard
Oakland, CA 94619-245
The Chabot Telescope Maker's workshop reopens! Chabot's TMW is one of only a handful of regularly scheduled telescope making workshops in the U.S., and probably the world; it meets every Friday evening throughout the year, except Memorial Day weekend. It has been in operation since December of 1930, founded by Franklin B. Wright, and is currently run by Eastbay Astronomical Society member Rich Ozer, with help from other EAS members, Dave Barosso, Barry Leska, and others. The price of admission is FREE. All you have to do is show up, buy a mirror blank and a "tool" (typically around $100 - $200 depending on the size of the mirror) and start "pushin' glass!" We supply you with instruction, the various grits you'll need to first grind, and then polish and figure your mirror, and all the testing equipment needed. With a small bit of luck, you could wind up with a telescope that costs 1/3 or 1/4 the cost of a store-bought telescope, that is yet optically superior! It does take time - depending on how much time you put in on it, and other factors, it could take a few months.. But, it's a fun project, great for kids, and at the end you get a great telescope!
Enter from the main loading dock behind the main building.
If you have a project, bring it with you so we can assess next steps.
You can also bring any other equipment or literature you may have
questions about.
For more information call or email Richard Ozer at richozer1@... or phone (510) 406-1914.
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Friday, 11/01/24 9PM-11PM for night observing and Saturday 11/02/24 10AM-12 Noon for solar observing
In-person
The Foothill Observatory is open again!
Foothill Observatory
12345 El Monte Road
Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
Foothill Observatory now Open EVERY clear Friday night and Saturday morning
The Foothill College Astronomy Department and Peninsula Astronomical Society (PAS) have reopened public viewing programs at Foothill College Observatory on:
· Every clear Friday night from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. for star gazing
· Every clear Saturday morning from 10 a.m. to noon for solar viewing
ATTENDANCE GUIDELINES
The COVID and masking policy for visiting Foothill Observatory is the same as that of Foothill College per their Health & Safety information:
1) Vaccinations are required
2) masking is strongly encouraged.
Websites: https://foothill.edu/astronomy/observatory.html
and https://pastro.org
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Friday, 11/01/24 and Saturday 11/02/24
07:30 PM - 10:00 PM
In-person
Chabot Space and Science Center
10000 Skyline Blvd
Oakland, CA 94619
Free Telescope Viewings
Join Chabot astronomers on the Observatory Deck for a free telescope viewing! Weather permitting, this is a chance to explore stars, planets and more through Chabot’s historic telescopes. Chabot’s three large historic telescopes offer a unique way to experience the awe and wonder of the Universe. Our observatory deck offers breathtaking views 1,500 feet above the Bay. Three observatory domes house the Center’s 8-inch (Leah, 1883) and 20-inch (Rachel, 1916) refracting telescopes, along with a 36-inch reflecting telescope (Nellie, 2003).
Are the skies clear for viewing tonight? Viewing can be impacted by rain, clouds, humidity and other weather conditions. Conditions can be unique to Chabot because of its unique location in Joaquin Miller Park. Before your visit, check out the Weather Station to see the current conditions at Chabot.
Website: https://chabotspace.org/events/free-telescope-viewings/
Before your visit:
• Check humidity on our Weather Station: https://chabotspace.org/weather-station/
• Check cloud cover using the live view webcam of the Center: https://ops.alertcalifornia.org/cam-console/2578
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Saturday, 11/02/24
Sunset: 6:09 PM
In-person
San Mateo Co. Astronomical Society
Crestview Park
1000 Crestview Drive
San Carlos, CA
Public Star Parties at Crestview Park in San Carlos
SMCAS and the City of San Carlos Parks Department host a public star party at Crestview Park in San Carlos twice a month when there is a new moon. Members set up telescopes and let the public view and share their knowledge of the night sky all for Free. All ages are welcome. If you have kids interested in space or science, bring them here for a real time view of planets, nebula, star clusters, and galaxies.
If you are a Non-member and own a telescope, bring it to share! Experts are available if you need assistance or have questions about buying a telescope.
Telescope setup begins at sunset and observing starts one hour after sunset. In the event of inclement weather (rain, clouds, fog, or high winds) the star party will be cancelled. Because each astronomer makes his or her own decision about bringing their telescope, there is no official cancellation notice.
Crestview Park is located at 1000 Crestview Drive in San Carlos
Website: https://smcas.net/events/star-parties/crestview-park/
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Saturday, 11/02/24
07:00 PM - 09:00 PM
In-person
Rancho Canada Del Oro Open Space Preserve
4289 Casa Loma Rd
Morgan hill, CA 95037
Starry Nights Star Party
The San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA), working with the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority (OSA), is glad to co-host a public star party at Rancho Canada del Oro (RCDO) Open Space Preserve. This site, just 30 minutes south of downtown San Jose, features dark skies. It's dark enough to see the band of our Milky Way galaxy in the summer.
Do not bring your own telescope (binoculars are welcome, but please no tripods). SJAA club members will set up their telescopes to help star party guests get the most knowledge and enjoyment out of the dark night sky.
Website: https://www.meetup.com/sj-astronomy/events/300804556/
Cost: Free
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Monday, 11/04/24
07:30 PM - 09:00 PM
In-person
California Academy of Sciences
55 Music Concourse Dr.
San Francisco, CA 94118
Seeing Beyond Sight: Astronomical Images and the Aesthetics of the Sublime
Over the last several decades, astronomers have used the Hubble Space Telescope to look deep into the Universe, a practice that continues with the James Webb Space Telescope. The images from these instruments, as well as those from ground-based telescopes and space probes, have introduced us to a celestial plentitude: pictures of galaxies that glitter with millions of points of light and nebulae that reach upward as giant gaseous columns; panoramas of Martian landscapes and close-ups of its geological features; aerial views of Jupiter’s swirling clouds and Saturn’s many rings in brilliant hues; visual reconstructions of black holes outlined in glowing orange.
Such cosmic pictures are based on scientific data, but they must address a vexing question: How to represent what our lies beyond our sight? This talk will consider how the aesthetics of astronomical images aid in the task. In particular, it will trace a recurring engagement with the rhetorical and visual tropes of the sublime, whether a resemblance to 19th-century landscape paintings of the American West or a reprise of the psychedelic styles of 1960s counterculture. Through the aesthetics of the sublime, astronomical images convey the awesomeness of reaching beyond our sensory limits, even as the familiarity of these tropes tame or contain the potentially terrifying aspects of transcendence.
Speaker: Elizabeth Kessler, Stanford University
Website: https://www.calacademy.org/events/benjamin-dean-astronomy-lectures/seeing-beyond-sight-astronomical-images-and-the-aesthetics
Cost: $15 General, $12 Members & Seniors
