Thursday, 01/23/25
07:00 PM - 08:30 PM
Attend in person or online (see weblink)
Jonas Center
College of Marin
1800 Ignacio Blvd
Novato, CA 94949
Exciting Results with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope
Speaker: Alex Filippenko, UC Berkeley
Website: https://novatospeakerseries.com
Cost: $20 Adults, $15 Students
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Friday, 01/24/25
07:15 PM - 09:15 PM
In-person
San Jose Astronomical Association
Houge Park
3972 Twilight Drive
San Jose, CA 95124
In Town Star Party
Come join San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA) for an evening of stargazing.
Event details:
• Events are held at the parking lot of our headquarters, Houge Park San Jose. The event duration is 2 hours. SJAA volunteers will share night sky views from their telescopes.
• Please refrain from bringing your own telescopes (Binoculars are welcome). If you like to be a volunteer with or without a telescope please email at "itsp@sjaa.net".
• SJAA as an all volunteer-nonprofit org depends on the City of San Jose to use facilities at Houge Park. To maintain this relationship, we must provide facility-use data to the city. Therefore, we ask you to sign in (no traceable personal data collected) when you arrive at the event.
Website:
https://www.sjaa.net/events/monthly-star-parties/
Cost: Free
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Friday, 01/24/2025 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@gmail.com or phone (510) 406-1914.
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Friday, 01/24/25 9PM-11PM for night observing and Saturday 01/25/25 10AM-12 Noon for solar observing
In-person
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, 01/24/25 and Saturday 01/25/25
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, 01/25/24
Sunset: 5:26 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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Tuesday, 01/28/25
06:00 PM - 07:30 PM
Livestream
NASA Night Sky Network
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arKdEye4HrY
Euclid: Mapping the Geometry of the Dark Universe - Livestream
Euclid is a new European Space Agency space telescope with NASA contributions designed to provide new insights into the nature of dark matter and why the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. The term “dark energy” has been given to refer to the unknown cause of this accelerated expansion. Over the course of six years, Euclid will build a sky map covering over one-third of the sky out to distances over 10 billion light-years. This map will be used to probe the large-scale structure of the universe, measure the properties of dark matter and dark energy, and test Einstein’s theory of gravity. Along the way, we will be gathering detailed information on over a billion distant galaxies, as well as providing new views of astronomical objects much closer to home. The talk will describe the Euclid mission, its goals, and some of the early scientific results.
Speaker: Michael Seiffert, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab
See weblink for connection information
Website: https://astrosociety.org/get-involved/events/event/2025/01/28/nsn-webinar-series-euclid-mapping-the-geometry-of-the-dark-universe-with-dr-michael-seiffert/509122
Cost: Free
