College Hosts In-Person & Online Astronomy Events this October
The Foothill College Astronomy Department offers two community evening events this October to learn about the moon and stars.
On Saturday, Oct. 16, from 7-10 p.m., the college will team up with Peninsula Astronomical Society for International Observe the Moon Night. The community is invited to join us online or on campus to observe and learn more about our nearest celestial neighbor, including discussion with NASA solar system experts. We will set up telescopes with cameras and displays outside for in-person contactless viewing, and livestream the view of the moon from Foothill Observatory.
Visitors on campus will be required to show proof of vaccination, wear a mask, and observe all other posted guidelines. To reserve a time slot to view the moon through one of our telescopes, visit the astronomy webpage. Live stream details will also be posted on the website.
On Wednesday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m., the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture series kicks off its 22nd year with a free, illustrated, non-technical, livestream lecture from Dr. Emily Levesque. “The Last Stargazers: Behind the Scenes in Astronomy” will take us on a behind-the-scenes tour of life as a professional astronomer. We'll learn about some of the most powerful telescopes in the world and their cutting-edge discoveries, meet the people behind the science, and explore the crucial role of human curiosity and innovation in the past, present, and future of scientific discovery.
Dr. Levesque is an astronomy professor at the University of Washington and the author of the critically-acclaimed popular science book, The Last Stargazers (published in 2020 by Sourcebooks). Her work explores how the most massive stars in the universe evolve and die. She has observed for upwards of fifty nights on many of the planet’s largest telescopes and flown over the Antarctic stratosphere in an experimental aircraft for her research. Her academic accolades include the 2014 Annie Jump Cannon Award, a 2017 Alfred P. Sloan fellowship, and the 2020 Newton Lacy Pierce Prize.
Viewers can watch the talk live online at http://www.youtube.com/SVAstronomyLectures.
The lecture is co-sponsored by:
* The Foothill College Science, Tech, Engineering & Math Division
* The SETI Institute
* The Astronomical Society of the Pacific
* The University of California Observatories (including Lick Observatory).
Past lectures in the series can also be found on YouTube.