The BayAstro group publishes announcements of interesting events related to astronomy and aerospace in the San Francisco Bay Area. This can include events such as astronomy and interesting physical science lectures, club meetings, star parties, air shows and other events of interest mostly to amateur astronomers and science enthusiasts. Many thanks to Ken Lum, who created this event listing.
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Due to concerns about the spread of the Coronavirus or COVID-19 virus, some events have been or may be cancelled. Many venues will be closed perhaps until the end of the year. Other events may offer online links and connections. To check on the status of a given event, check their website for updates.
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Tuesday, 10/20/20
12:30 PM – 02:15 PM
Osher Life-long Learning Institute, SF State
Introductory Class: Being a Tourist in the Solar System and the Galaxy – Livestream
You are invited on a spectacularly illustrated Tourist Tour of the Solar System and the Galaxy with astronomer Andrew Fraknoi.
* Tuesdays, 12:30 PM – 2:15 PM, Oct. 13 through Nov. 3 (Four Meeting Days)
* Offered through the SF State Osher Life-long Learning Institute (OLLI), but open to anyone over age 50.
Have you recently had an irresistible desire to get off planet Earth and be somewhere else? Then join the scientist who is often called the Bay Area’s public astronomer on a fun tour of the not-to-be-missed “tourist sights” among the planets and moons with which we share the Sun, and among the nearby stars, glowing clouds, and star clusters in our Milky Way Galaxy!
Sign up here.
When you register for the class, if you are not a current member of OLLI, you will be asked to sign up, but it’s a free process.
The class discussion will be accompanied with really dramatic color images from the latest space probes, many of them new. We’ll learn about some of the most interesting vistas in deep space, including:
* the steam geysers on one of Saturn’s moons,
* a cliff on a moon of Uranus’ which is the tallest lovers leap in the solar system
* nearby stars that have intriguing planets that may be habitable
* several glowing columns of cosmic material that are being converted into new stars and new planets right now
* the colorful death-shrouds that surround aging stars in our neighborhood.
Designed like the Rick Steves travel shows on public TV, these tours are for the beginner, and will assume no background in science. Discover how we humans fit into the bigger picture.
Instructor: Andrew Fraknoi retired Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College
Other Dates For This Event:
• Tuesday, 10/13/20
• Tuesday, 10/20/20
• Tuesday, 10/27/20
• Tuesday, 11/03/20
Kathy Bruin
Email: olli@sfsu.edu
Website: https://www.campusce.net/sfsu/course/course.aspx?C=662&pc=94&mc=&sc=
Cost: $70
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Wednesday, 10/21/20
03:00 PM – 03:30 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Astronomy Talks: Neutrino Mass from Cosmology – Livestream
Neutrinos are some of least understood fundamental particles, come learn about how we measure their mass using the largest length scales (the observable universe)!
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Wednesday, 10/21/20
05:00 PM – 05:30 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Astronomy Talks: Exoplanets and the Search for Alien Life – Livestream
Learn about exoplanets and the exciting search for Earth-like and potentially habitable worlds.
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Wednesday, 10/21/20
05:00 PM – 06:00 PM
UC Berkeley
Basic Science: The Overactive Earth – Livestream
Plate tectonics drives our dynamic planet, from earthquakes and volcanoes at surface subduction zones to convection deep in the mantle. A dynamic group of geologists and geophysicists discusses ways to study how the Earth operates, how it has changed over 4.5 billion years, and some unsolved mysteries.
Please register in advance. To access the presentation, join the Zoom meeting.
Michael Manga, Professor and Chair of Earth and Planetary Science, moderator
Roland Burgmann, Professor of Earth and Planetary Science
Claire Doody, doctoral candidate, Department of Earth and Planetary Science
Harriet Lau, Assistant Professor of Earth and Planetary Science
Website: https://basicscience2020.berkeley.edu
Cost: Free
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Wednesday, 10/21/20
05:30 PM – 06:00 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Astronomy Talks: How do we Detect Black Holes? – Livestream
We can’t see black holes, so how do we know they exist? I’ll discuss a few ways astronomers can infer their existence.
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Wednesday, 10/21/20
06:00 PM – 07:30 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Are we alone in the universe? Join us in a conversation with Frank Drake, an astronomer who has spent sixty years studying that cosmic question.
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Wednesday, 10/21/20
06:00 PM – 07:00 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
SuperCryogenic Dark Matter Search Lab Tour – Livestream
Join the Pyle Research Group to view a state-of-the-art low temperature detector, see cool demos, and tour the lab. You’ll feel like you’re really there!
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Wednesday, 10/21/20 7:15 PM
San Francisco Amateur Astronomers
Finding Life on Other Worlds
Are we alone or do we share our solar system and galaxy with other forms of life? And how widespread are advanced civilizations with whom we could communicate? Right now we don’t have answers to these profound questions. But scientists are in hot pursuit. The technology of searching for life on other worlds has received a level of maturity where the first definitive evidence of extraterrestrial life could come in the very near future.
Bob will explore three different roads for detecting life beyond Earth:
• Launching robotic spacecraft to discover life on Mars or other worlds in our solar system
• Deploying large telescopes to detect the chemical signatures of life in the atmospheres of planets orbiting other stars
• Using various techniques to pick up signals from advanced civilizations or to find evidence of their technological activities
This talk will be loosely based on Bob’s cover story he wrote for the September 2020 issue of Sky & Telescope magazine and an accompanying web article about what kinds of planets might be the hosts for life.
Speaker: Robert Naeye, Science Journalist
See weblink for connection information
Website: https://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/live-streamed-lectures/
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Thursday, 10/22/20
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
SETI Institute
SETI Talks – Radio Astronomy: The End of Big Dishes? – Livestream
Big-single dish radio astronomy observatories such as the 305-m Arecibo Observatory and the 500-m FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope) have made key breakthroughs in science, including the discovery of the first extrasolar planets. Recently, interferometric telescopes such as MeerKAT in South Africa, ASKAP (Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder), and CHIME (Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment) have opened up new observing windows. These experiments are all precursor to the SKA (Square Kilometer Array), whose construction will begin in 2021 and is expected to be the most sensitive radio telescope ever built.
Why this explosion of radio telescope projects?
What’s the scientific reasoning for building arrays separated across continents?
What challenges do astronomers and engineers face?
Finally, what kind of science are these arrays useful for and will SETI benefit from their capabilities?
To answer these questions, we invited two astronomers who have worked for years in the field of radio astronomy. Cherry Ng is a researcher at the Dunlap Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics in Canada. She has used the single-dish Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia and the CHIME (Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment) radio telescope for her research on neutron star and fast radio bursts. Evan Keane, an award-winning astrophysicist, works in time-domain radio astronomy and has been the Square Kilometer Array project scientist since 2015.
Cherry Ng and Evan Keane will describe their past, current and future work with radio telescopes, the potential of future facilities for their research and the SETI search.
Note change in start time from 9:45 AM to 10:00.
Website: https://www.seti.org/event/seti-talks-radio-astronomy-end-big-dishes
Cost: Free
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Thursday, 10/22/20
05:30 PM – 06:00 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Astronomy Talks: Lightning and Thunder – Using Light & Gravitational Waves to Study the Universe – Livestream
Combining light and gravitational waves to solve the biggest mysteries in astrophysics.
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Thursday, 10/22/20
08:00 PM – 09:00 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Share the Night Sky – Livestream
Via radio/smartphone, Urban Astronomer Paul Salazar and KPOO-FM DJ Marilynn will broadcast/stream a guided tour of the Moon, planets, and constellations.
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Friday, 10/23/20
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Bay Area Science Festival
Explore the Stanford Linear Accelerator Virtual Tour – Tour 1 – Livestream
Visit SLAC virtually through a live, guided tour
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Friday, 10/23/20
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Explore the Stanford Linear Accelerator Virtual Tour – Tour 2 – Livestream
Visit SLAC virtually through a live, guided tour
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Friday, 10/23/20
12:00 PM – 01:00 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Día de la Ciencia – Explorando el Universo: Imaginándose la Vida – Livestream
¿Alguna vez te imaginaste vida más allá de la Tierra? ¿Qué tipo de animales crees que existirían en otro planeta?
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Friday, 10/23/20
01:00 PM – 02:00 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Explore the Stanford Linear Accelerator Virtual Tour – Tour 3 – Livestream
Visit SLAC virtually through a live, guided tour
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Friday, 10/23/20
02:30 PM – 03:30 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Explore the Stanford Linear Accelerator Virtual Tour – Tour 3 – Livestream
Visit SLAC virtually through a live, guided tour
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Friday, 10/23/20
04:00 PM – 04:30 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Astronomy Talks: Pulsars – Nature’s Clocks – Livestream
A talk on the formation, evolution, and current research of Pulsars, which are remnants of stars that have exploded.
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Friday, 10/23/20
07:00 PM – 08:00 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Big Astronomy Planetarium Show Live-Stream – Livestream
Explore the world-class observatories nestled in northern Chile’s mountains and learn why Chile, with its beautiful mountain ranges and clear cloudless skies, creates an ideal environment for studying the cosmos.
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Saturday, 10/24/20
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Understanding our Sun – Livestream
What do we know about the object at the center of our solar system? We’ll be tackling a variety of hot topics about our sun!
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Saturday, 10/24/20
12:00 PM – 12:30 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Astronomy Talks: Quantum Mechanics vs General Relativity: Clash of the Titans – Livestream
Get an introductions into the extremely powerful theories of quantum mechanics and Einstein’s general relativity, and explain why the search to unify the two can ultimately lead to a single theory that describes the entire Universe.
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Saturday, 10/24/20
12:00 PM – 12:30 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Straw Rockets – Livestream
Launch paper rockets using the power of your breath and a straw.
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Saturday, 10/24/20
12:30 PM – 02:00 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
DESI High: Jóvenes aprendiendo Energía Oscura con datos directos del Telescopio – Livestream
DESI High es un ‘juego de química’ de cosmología moderna con datos directos del telescopio. ¡Aprende sobre la expansión del Universo, Energía Oscura y mas!
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Saturday, 10/24/20
12:30 PM – 02:00 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
DESI High: Teaching Teenagers Dark Energy with Hot-off-the-Telescope Data! – Livestream
DESI High is a “chemistry set” of 21st century Cosmology for high schoolers, with hot-off-the-telescope data. Come learn about dark energy, python and data science!
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Saturday, 10/24/20
01:00 PM – 01:30 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Straw Rockets – Livestream
Launch paper rockets using the power of your breath and a straw.
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Saturday, 10/24/20
02:00 PM – 02:30 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Straw Rockets – Livestream
Launch paper rockets using the power of your breath and a straw.
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Saturday, 10/24/20
03:00 PM – 04:00 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Science Cafe Mini-Talks in Astronomy – Livestream
Join our live session featuring 3 scientists recruited from around the country to give short 10-15 minute, accessible public talks about Astronomy. 5-10 minutes of Q&A with the public following each talk.
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Saturday, 10/24/20
07:30 PM – 09:30 PM
Friends of Mt. Tam Astronomy Night
N~1: Alone in the Milky Way – Livestream
The Drake Equation famously “quantifies our ignorance” regarding the number, N, of advanced civilizations in our galaxy. Even though planets are plentiful, and even though life may be a natural – even common – product of cosmic chemistry, we Earthlings may represent the solitary galactic civilization capable of interstellar communication. I.e., perhaps N~1.
Pascal Lee, SETI Institute
Watch on the Mt Tam Astronomy Channel
Website: https://www.mttamastronomy.org/calendar
Cost: Free
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Saturday, 10/24/20
09:00 PM – 10:30 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center
Virtual Telescope Viewing – Livestream
Join our resident astronomers on Facebook Live every Saturday evening live from Chabot’s Observation deck!
Each week, our astronomers will guide us through spectacular night sky viewing through Nellie, Chabot‘s most powerful telescope. Weather permitting we will be able to view objects live through the telescopes and our astronomers will be available for an open forum for all of your most pressing astronomy questions.
We will go live the Chabot Space & Science Center Facebook page 10-15 minutes before the event. You can find the live video stream on our Facebook page and in the Facebook event discussion. To receive a notification when we go live, “like” Chabot Space & Science Center on Facebook and RSVP that you’re going to this event.
RSVP on Facebook.
Other Dates For This Event:
• Saturday, 10/24/20
• Saturday, 10/31/20
• Saturday, 11/07/20
• Saturday, 11/14/20
Website: https://chabotspace.org/calendar/free-telescope-viewings/2020-10-03
Cost: Free
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Sunday, 10/25/20
11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Astronomy Talks: Life on Other Planets – Livestream
The search for life on other worlds – from science fiction to science
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Sunday, 10/25/20
02:00 PM – 03:00 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Interacting with Light – Livestream
We will introduce cool optical concepts such as refraction, diffraction, and fiber optics through virtual demos and activities.
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Sunday, 10/25/20
03:00 PM – 04:00 PM
Bay Area Science Festival
Lick Observatory: Ask an Astronomer – Livestream
Curious about astronomy? Ask your questions here! Join a live discussion with scientists at Lick Observatory, who will be answering public questions in a one-hour Zoom event.
Registration required at weblink
Website: https://www.bayareasciencefestival2020.org/schedule-tabbed-new/
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Monday, 10/26/20 4:00 PM
What Physicists Do @ Sonoma State University
Quantum Gravity – Livestream
Speaker: Dr. Sebastian Fischetti, McGill University
See weblink for Zoom information.
Website: http://phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/wpdcurrent.shtml
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Monday, 10/26/20 4:15 PM
UC Berkeley
Proton and nuclear structure from the Standard Model – Livestream
Our understanding of the structure of matter, encapsulated in the Standard Model of particle physics, is that protons, neutrons, and nuclei emerge dynamically from the interactions of underlying quark and gluon degrees of freedom. I will describe how first-principles theory calculations have given us new insights into this structure, including recent predictions of the contributions of gluons to the pressure and shear distributions in the proton, which will be measurable for the first time at the planned Electron-Ion Collider.
I will also discuss studies of light nuclei which provide insights relevant to long-baseline neutrino experiments seeking to constrain the neutrino masses and mixing parameters, searches for evidence of the Majorana nature of neutrinos through neutrinoless double beta decay, and dark matter direct detection experiments. Finally, I will explain how provably exact machine learning algorithms are providing new possibilities in this field.
Speaker: Phiala Shanahan, Mass. Institute of Technology
Website: https://physics.berkeley.edu/news-events/events/20201026/proton-and-nuclear-structure-from-the-standard-model
Cost: Free
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Tuesday, 10/27/20
12:30 PM – 02:15 PM
Introductory Class: Being a Tourist in the Solar System and the Galaxy – Livestream
You are invited on a spectacularly illustrated Tourist Tour of the Solar System and the Galaxy with astronomer Andrew Fraknoi.
* Tuesdays, 12:30 PM – 2:15 PM, Oct. 13 through Nov. 3 (Four Meeting Days)
* Offered through the SF State Osher Life-long Learning Institute (OLLI), but open to anyone over age 50.
Have you recently had an irresistible desire to get off planet Earth and be somewhere else? Then join the scientist who is often called the Bay Area’s public astronomer on a fun tour of the not-to-be-missed “tourist sights” among the planets and moons with which we share the Sun, and among the nearby stars, glowing clouds, and star clusters in our Milky Way Galaxy!
Sign up here.
When you register for the class, if you are not a current member of OLLI, you will be asked to sign up, but it’s a free process.
The class discussion will be accompanied with really dramatic color images from the latest space probes, many of them new. We’ll learn about some of the most interesting vistas in deep space, including:
* the steam geysers on one of Saturn’s moons,
* a cliff on a moon of Uranus’ which is the tallest lovers leap in the solar system
* nearby stars that have intriguing planets that may be habitable
* several glowing columns of cosmic material that are being converted into new stars and new planets right now
* the colorful death-shrouds that surround aging stars in our neighborhood.
Designed like the Rick Steves travel shows on public TV, these tours are for the beginner, and will assume no background in science. Discover how we humans fit into the bigger picture.
Instructor: Andrew Fraknoi retired Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College
Other Dates For This Event:
• Tuesday, 10/20/20
• Tuesday, 10/27/20
• Tuesday, 11/03/20
Contact: Kathy Bruin
Email: olli@sfsu.edu
Website: https://www.campusce.net/sfsu/course/course.aspx?C=662&pc=94&mc=&sc=
Cost: $70
==================================
Saturday, 10/31/20
09:00 PM – 10:30 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center
Once In A Blue Moon Halloween Virtual Telescope Viewing – Livestream
Join us for a special, spooky virtual telescope viewing on Halloween night!
This Halloween, we are lucky for a sight that only comes around once in a Blue Moon. The last time we had a Full Moon on Halloween was in 1944, and this year is extra special with a rare Blue Moon. Celebrate this special night with Chabot’s astronomers for a very rare virtual telescope viewing.
Together, we will observe and learn about the Blue Moon with a presentation and a virtual look through Chabot’s most powerful telescope, Nellie. Weather permitting, we will see the Moon, Mars and more deep sky objects.
We will go live the Chabot Space & Science Center Facebook page 10-15 minutes before the event. You can find the live video stream on our Facebook page and in the Facebook event discussion. To receive a notification when we go live, “like” Chabot Space & Science Center on Facebook and RSVP that you’re going to this event.
RSVP on Facebook.
Other Dates For This Event:
• Saturday, 10/31/20
• Saturday, 11/07/20
• Saturday, 11/14/20
• Saturday, 11/21/20
Website: https://chabotspace.org/calendar/once-in-a-blue-moon-halloween-virtual-telescope-viewing
Cost: Free
==================================
Tuesday, 11/03/20
12:30 PM – 02:15 PM
Introductory Class: Being a Tourist in the Solar System and the Galaxy – Livestream
You are invited on a spectacularly illustrated Tourist Tour of the Solar System and the Galaxy with astronomer Andrew Fraknoi.
* Tuesdays, 12:30 PM – 2:15 PM, Oct. 13 through Nov. 3 (Four Meeting Days)
* Offered through the SF State Osher Life-long Learning Institute (OLLI), but open to anyone over age 50.
Have you recently had an irresistible desire to get off planet Earth and be somewhere else? Then join the scientist who is often called the Bay Area’s public astronomer on a fun tour of the not-to-be-missed “tourist sights” among the planets and moons with which we share the Sun, and among the nearby stars, glowing clouds, and star clusters in our Milky Way Galaxy!
Sign up here.
When you register for the class, if you are not a current member of OLLI, you will be asked to sign up, but it’s a free process.
The class discussion will be accompanied with really dramatic color images from the latest space probes, many of them new. We’ll learn about some of the most interesting vistas in deep space, including:
* the steam geysers on one of Saturn’s moons,
* a cliff on a moon of Uranus’ which is the tallest lovers leap in the solar system
* nearby stars that have intriguing planets that may be habitable
* several glowing columns of cosmic material that are being converted into new stars and new planets right now
* the colorful death-shrouds that surround aging stars in our neighborhood.
Designed like the Rick Steves travel shows on public TV, these tours are for the beginner, and will assume no background in science. Discover how we humans fit into the bigger picture.
Instructor: Andrew Fraknoi retired Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College
Other Dates For This Event:
• Tuesday, 11/03/20
Contact: Kathy Bruin
Email: olli@sfsu.edu
Website: http://www.bayareascience.org/calendar/index.php?eID=29358
Cost: $70