Our meetings feature great Guest Speakers – distinguished astronomers, including staff astronomers from various observatories and professional astronomers at universities. A range of topics in space-science, astronomy and astrophysics are covered at the meetings and include discussion of technologies involved – cameras, spectroscopy and other instrumentation.

The agenda often has show-and-tell presentations by club members or small workshops, and normally includes updates on club activities and announcements. Coffee and cookies are available, and we generally have door prizes and a 50/50 Raffle.

Speaker: Ardis Herrold, Senior Education Specialist, NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Topic: Rubin’s Revolution: From Data to Discovery

Abstract: The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory will begin operations late this year. The observatory will employ a number of innovative technologies while conducting a ten-year survey of the southern sky, providing access to a vast data set that will enable an unprecedented number of discoveries. Learn more about this amazing new observatory and the types of science it will support.

Bio: Ardis Herrold is the Senior Education Specialist for Rubin Observatory. She oversees the Rubin Observatory Education program, which includes creation of classroom investigations using authentic data, teacher support materials, and teacher professional development. Prior to joining Rubin Observatory, Ardis taught physical, Earth, and space sciences at the high school and college level, as well as working in planetariums and observatories. Ardis is a Past President of the National Earth Science Teachers Association and twice Past President of the Michigan Earth Science Teachers Association. A lifelong amateur astronomer, she has a personal observatory near Tucson, AZ, where she enjoys imaging deep sky objects, comets and supernovae.

Location: Beardsley Recreation Center
12755 W Beardsley Rd, Sun City West, AZ 85375