Astronomy Club Meetings

Here are the videos from the last three Astronomy Club Meetings:

Astronomy Club Members at NASA Space Grant Symposium

Many Astronomy Club members recently gave presentations at the NASA Space Grant Symposium at Arizona State University on April 9th. Here are three of their research presentations:

Kevin Hardegree-Ullman:


Jake Turner:


Kaylan Burleigh:

Astronomy Club Meeting and Tim and Kevin's Research Presentations

Astronomy Club Meeting and Problem of the Week

1. "Why are you probably less popular than your friends?"

2. Do you think the image of the Earth-Moon below is real? Why or why not?

3. Do you expect the night sky to be darkest in the direction opposite the Sun? Why or why not?

4. Why is a Full Moon highest in the sky during winter?

Astronomy Club Meeting and Problem of the Week

Problem of the Week:

This week's evening sky presents a great opportunity to see both Mercury and Jupiter in the west just after sunset. Go outside, observe them, and estimate their relative brightness. Based on your knowledge of those planets and their orbits, predict their relative brightness. Then compare your prediction with your observations. Treat this problem like a Fermi problem to do in your head without looking up any details.

Astronomy Puzzle of the Week

The figure below plots the total brightness of a Solar System object like the Moon as a function of its phase. You might not expect the "surge" in brightness near Full phase.

1. What was your expectation for the trend of brightness and why?
2. How can you explain the fact that the Moon appears brighter at Full phase that you would expect geometrically?

Astronomy Club Meeting, Minutes, and Problems of the Week

Meeting Minutes

• Game Night with SEDS
• Friday at 7pm in N305
• Sabino Canyon Star Party
• This Saturday
• Meet in the parking lot south of Steward Observatory at 4:30pm
• American Astronomical Society 218th Meeting
• Abstracts due tomorrow!
• Projects
• Extrasolar Planet Project
• Talk to Jake (turner@email.arizona.edu)
• Meet at 6:30pm on Thursday in the computer lab
• Binocular Telescope Project
• Talk to Blythe (bguvenen@email.arizona.edu)
• Outreach Materials (i.e. for Biosphere 2 trips
• Talk to Katie (kljpyro@email.arizona.edu)
• Meet at 3pm on Friday in the club office
• Astronomy Problems of the Week
• Thought provoking questions, see below
• Meet on Friday at 4pm in Steward 450
• Talks
• If you are interested in presenting your research, talk to Tim (tmc1@email.arizona.edu)
• Membership
• Dues are $10 per semester to support projects and club events
• If you have not already, fill out a membership form at http://astroclub.as.arizona.edu/membershipform.html

Astronomy Problems of the Week:

1. What's the final letter in this sequence: B, G, L, S, ...?

2. Imagine you buy some items for $13.59 and you give a $50 bill to the cashier. The two of you stare at each other in amazement. Why?

3. Our Telescope Control Systems display "LST" (local sidereal time). Estimate the value of LST at this very moment (in your head!) using only your understanding of its meaning.