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---+ Past Events from 2025

For photos of all past events, see [[https://www.flickr.com/photos/143414768@N07/albums][our Flickr Page]].  
For lecture recordings, see [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpslw1KdoUvnCKi0swsb23w/videos][our YouTube Page]].<br>

To learn more about each event this year (including abstracts, titles, etc.), click on the event links below.

---++++ Friday, January 24, 8-10PM

[[20250117][Stargazing Lecture - The Physics of the Warp Drive]]<br />
*[[Lecturer]]*: Elias Most<br />
*[[LectureCaptain][Lecture Captain]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[LectureVolunteer][Lecture Volunteers]] (2+)*: Nicholas Rui, Sarah Habib<br />
*[[TelescopeCaptain][Telescope Captain]]*: Sam Rose<br />
*[[TelescopeVolunteer][Telescope Volunteers]] (3+)*: Harshda Saxena, Delina Levine, Hazel Yun, Tim Proudkii, Xander Hall, Maggie Li<br>
*Attendees*: 250<br>
190 in person and 60 online.  Great turnout for a winter event.  Elias gave a great presentation and explanation of faster-than-light travel.<br>
Clear conditions and the "planet parade" meant good observing outside.  We had 2 dobsonians and 2 electronic scopes looking at <br>
Jupiter, Mars, M42, and M31.  Great volunteers and great night overall.

---++++ Friday, January 31, 6:30-8PM

Telescope Training on Dobs and eVscope<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br>
*Participants*: Tim Proudkii, Sasha Mintz, Maria Sanchez<br>
Good group.  We got through setting up and taking down 8" dob; viewing Moon, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter.<br>
Also setup and takedown of eVscope with a view of M42.<br>

---++++ Monday, February 3, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20250127][Astronomy on Tap @ Dog Haus]]<br />
*[[AoTCaptain][MC]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[AoTSpeaker][Speakers]] (2)*: Stella Ocker, Matthew Stumbo<br />
*[[AoTVolunteer][Volunteer]] (3+)*: Maggie Li, Sam Rose, Delaney White, Tim Proudkii, Sasha Mintz<br>
*Attendees*: 160<br>
Great group and excellent presentations.  Clouds cleared a bit at the end, which allowed observations of M1 on the eVscope.<br>
Jason Achilles was unable to join at the last minute.  New merchandise includes tshirts, pint glasses, coffee mugs, and water bottles.<br>

---++++ Friday, February 14, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20250214][Stargazing Lecture - Powerful Jets from Supermassive Black Holes]]<br />
*[[Lecturer]]*: Martijn Oei<br />
*[[LectureCaptain][Lecture Captain]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[LectureVolunteer][Lecture Volunteers]] (2+)*: Kenny Lau, Dee Dunne<br />
*[[TelescopeCaptain][Telescope Captain]]*: Sam Rose<br />
*[[TelescopeVolunteer][Telescope Volunteers]] (3+)*: Maggie Li, Harshda Saxena, Maria Sanchez<br>
*Attendees*: 150<br>
110 in person and 40 online.  Valentines Day, so wasn't sure how turnout would be.  Martijn gave a great lecture, and light clouds but<br>
still decent observing of planentary objects.  Had some issues with microphone where Martijn spoke too closely to it, and it sounded <br>
distorted online.  <br>

---++++ Friday - Sunday, February 21 - 23

[[20250221][Death Valley NP Dark Sky Festival]]<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*Volunteers*: Sam Rose, Delina Levine, Luke Handley, Aniket Sanghi, Dee Dunne, Hazel Yun, Tim Proudkii, Sasha Mintz, Mike Kelzenberg, Facundo Perez, Charles Sommer, Delaney White, Jakob Faber, Tirth Surti, Sam Ponnada, Emily Silich<br>
*Friday Astro on Tap Speakers*: Emily Silich, Mike Kelzenberg<br>
*Saturday Astro on Tap Speakers*: Dee Dunne, Aniket Sanghi<br>
*Attendees*: 6800<br>
Really spectacular weekend.  Good turnout from the Caltech team for all of the various activities.  Two great Astro on Taps with 180 and 200 attendees respectively.  200 people at Cameron's presentation and around 100 at the Q&A Panel. <br>
Tons of people showed up to the science expo over the two days (in the thousands).  The weather was perfect, with no wind, no cold, and clear skies at night.<br>
We brought the 6" and 10" dobs along with my eVscope2 and SeeStar, which worked well, although fitting everything in my car was a challenge.  Both nights the bars struggled to provide a microphone and speakers, which wasn't great, but<br>
between NPS helping on Friday and finally tracking down a speaker from Xanterra on Saturday, we made it work.  I cannot recommend working with Xanterra again, since they are clearly only interested in making money and wasting people's time.<br>
After exchanging 15 emails in the months prior to the event, they had done virtually nothing to prepare for the Astro on Tap on Saturday night, with staff not knowing it was happening and them closing the kitchen at 7PM.  But we still pulled it off.<br>
We were a little short on the Saturday afternoon science expo session, which is arguably the busiest shift, so maybe we'll try to ensure we have enough people for that one next time.<br>

---++++ Monday, February 24, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20250224][Astronomy on Tap @ Dog Haus]]<br />
*[[AoTCaptain][MC]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[AoTSpeaker][Speakers]] (2)*: Tony Rodriguez, Mandy Chen<br />
*[[AoTVolunteer][Volunteer]] (3+)*: Harshda Saxena, Maggie Li, Wuji Wang<br>
*Attendees*: 160<br>
Clear conditions and not too cold.  Great talks by Tony and Mandy.  I was exhausted after the big weekend at Death Valley for the Dark Sky Festival, but we made it work.<br>
First time recording with the USB mixer and sound board, and hopefully it worked.<br>


---++++ Friday, February 28, 5:30-7:30PM

Telescopes with San Rafael Elementary Science Fair<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*Volunteers* (1-2): Kira Nolan<br />
*Attendees*: 150 <br>
We joined local school San Rafael Elementary for their science fair. There were a number of outdoor activities for the kids to do, <br>
including our telescope set up, as well as indoor activities with entries in the science fair. At our station, we had views of the<br>
 "planet parade" including Jupiter, Mars, and Venus. We also ended up looking at the Orion Nebula.  Pretty patchy clouds, <br>
so it wasn't great observing, but the kids were excited nonetheless.  We also handed out some NASA HST images as swag.<br>
Lots of enthusiastic children, but we were a little too close to the air-powered rocket demonstration and rockets kept coming<br>
down on our group. If we do it again, it might be good to move.<br>

---++++ Friday, March 7, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20250307][Stargazing Lecture - Uncovering the History of the Universe with Radio Astronomy]]<br />
*[[Lecturer]]*: Ruby Byrne<br />
*[[LectureCaptain][Lecture Captain]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[LectureVolunteer][Lecture Volunteers]] (2+)*: Kenny Lau, Harshda Saxena<br />
*[[TelescopeCaptain][Telescope Captain]]*: Sam Rose<br />
*[[TelescopeVolunteer][Telescope Volunteers]] (3+)*: Maria Camarca, Tim Proudkii, Sasha Mintz<br>
*Attendees*: 230<br>
180 in-person + 50 online = 230 attendees.  Despite initial problems getting volunteers, the event went well.  Lots of <br>
enthusiastic attendees joined us to learn about cosmology.  Ruby's presentation was really well done, and many people<br>
stuck around for the Q&A panel.<br>

---++++ Friday, March 21, 7-9PM

Telescopes with Holly Avenue Elementary Science Fair<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*Volunteers* (1-2): Kira Nolan<br />
*Attendees*: 200<br>
Kira and I arrived at 7:00PM to set up and the science fair was in full swing already.  We brought the 6" dob and the eVscope,<br>
as well as the Caltech Astro table with some HST images and business cards.  Sunset was at 7PM, so we initially just set up the<br>
6" dob to look at Jupiter, but had to wait about 30 minutes until the eVscope could calibrate on some stars.  Then it pointed at M42.<br>
Jupiter was a great target, but the eVscope had some problems with M42 due to off-axis light from overhead lights getting into the sensor.<br>
The effect was that the image was a bit purple, but people didn't seem to care too much.  We stuck around until after the science fair ended<br>
(it ended at 8PM, but people kept coming to the telescopes until 8:45).  The students were very excited to look through the telescopes!<br>

---++++ Monday, March 24, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20250317][Astronomy on Tap @ Dog Haus]]<br />
*[[AoTCaptain][MC]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[AoTSpeaker][Speakers]] (2)*: Jamie Bock, Jack Sayers<br />
*[[AoTVolunteer][Volunteer]] (3+)*: Delina Levine, Harshda Saxena, Sam Rose, Maggie Li, Emily Silich, Facundo Perez Paolino<br>
*Attendees*: 250<br>
Great evening overall!  Weather was warm and clear, and the volunteers were able to get some great views of Bode's Galaxy using<br>
the eVscope.  Big turnout for Jamie and Jack talking about cosmology and SPHEREx.  Both talks went very well, and there were<br>
a lot of enthusiastic attendees.  The pub trivia was hard, but most people still stuck around for the answers at the end.  Recording<br>
went pretty well using the equipment, but still some 1kHz humming of feedback in the recording.<br>

---++++ Friday-Sunday, March 28-30

[[20250328][Great Orion Dark Sky Festival]]<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*Volunteers*: Emily Silich, Dee Dunne, Nicholas Rui, Yoonsoo Kim<br>
*Attendees*: 300<br>
Event went very well.  Some moderate wind for a couple of nights, but it wasn't a major problem.  I put my computer in a sealed plastic bin,<br>
which protected it from the blowing dust.  Weather was cloudy for first and third nights, but some good views the second night.  About a dozen<br>
telescopes set up, including 2 28" dobs and a Celestron Origin, which is really spectacular.  The talks went well overall, with me giving one talk<br>
each of the three nights to an audience of 300.  The grads were great with some good engagement at the science demos.  We had the marshmallow<br>
demo and a solar telescope set up.  They also did a wonderful job on the Q&A panel with thoughtful answers and engagement from each of them.<br>
Definitely one of the smoothest dark sky festivals we've participated in.

---++++ Friday, April 4, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20250404][Stargazing Lecture - If You Give a Black Hole a Cookie]]<br />
*[[Lecturer]]*: Jean Somalwar<br />
*[[LectureCaptain][Lecture Captain]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[LectureVolunteer][Lecture Volunteers]] (2+)*: Elias Kammoun, Pranav Nagarajan<br />
*[[TelescopeCaptain][Telescope Captain]]*: Delina Levine<br />
*[[TelescopeVolunteer][Telescope Volunteers]] (3+)*: Maggie Li, Delaney White<br>
*Attendees*: 160 <br>
130 in-person + 30 online = 160 attendees. A little short on volunteers but we made it work.  Great skies for observing with views of M82, Jupiter, and Moon.<br>
Jean gave a good down-to-earth presentation on black hole accretion.  And the Q&A panel was really good with lots of discussion on black holes.<br>

---++++ Monday, April 14, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20250414][Astronomy on Tap @ Dog Haus]]<br />
*[[AoTCaptain][MC]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[AoTSpeaker][Speakers]] (2)*: Aurora Kesseli, Viraj Karambelkar<br />
*[[AoTVolunteer][Volunteer]] (3+)*: Harshda Saxena, Emily Hu, Maggie Li, Tim Proudkii, Sasha Mintz<br>
*Attendees*: 150<br>
Slightly lower turn out tonight but still a great evening.  A bit cold but clear weather for the telescopes.  Great talks and excellent live music by<br>
Jason and Forrest.  No technical difficulties after we finally got that noisy 1 kHz tone out of the recorded sound.  Phew!  Event went pretty well<br>
overall.<br>

---++++ Thursday, April 24, 9AM-12PM

Visit to Cleveland Elementary School<br />
*Organizer*: David Hale<br>
*Attendees*: 120<br>
Cleveland Elementary School, in Lakewood, CA. David presented to four classes.  He performed some demos with a spectrograph and demonstrated how a telescope works using the 4" reflector.  

---++++ Thursday, May 1, 8:00-10:00PM

[[20250501][Altadena Stargazing Night]]<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br>
*Volunteers*: Maggie Li, Harshda Saxena, Dee Dunne, Facundo Perez Paolino, Carlos Ayala, Andreas Faisst, Emily Silich, Jen Sobeck, Tim Proudkii, Sasha Mintz<br>
*Attendees*: 250<br>
A success despite some challenging obstacles.  In the week prior to this event, the weather forecast suggested a few low clouds and maybe some cirrus.<br>
By the time we were driving there, it had changed and it was sprinkling light rain.  I informed our social media, outreach website, and volunteers, and hoped<br>
for the best.  At 8PM there were still some pretty thick clouds covering much of the sky, but the Moon was visible.  Over the next 15 minutes, part of the sky<br>
cleared and Jupiter and the Moon could be viewed, and we had half a dozen telescopes set up to view them.  We had our Caltech Astro table set up, along with<br>
some NASA and Planetary Society swag for attendees.  By 8:30, much of the sky was visible (even if a bit hazy) and we had about a dozen telescopes set up,<br>
mostly viewing Jupiter and the Moon, but a couple digital telescopes on deep sky objects (M101 and a globular).  Overall, we had about 250 attendees, many<br>
of which were families.  Several enthusiastic volunteers from partner organizations Carnegie Observatories and LA Astronomical Society were there as well.<br>
At 10PM, the sprinklers on the south side of the park turned on, and we had to take emergency action to cover them to prevent telescopes from getting wet.<br>
Tim Proudkii, Sam Ponnada, and Cameron Hummels all got pretty wet, but we prevented any damage.  A positive evening overall.<br>

---++++ Friday, May 2, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20250502][Stargazing Lecture - Inside and Out:  The Full Picture of Galaxy Evolution]]<br />
*[[Lecturer]]*: Evan Nunez<br />
*[[LectureCaptain][Lecture Captain]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[LectureVolunteer][Lecture Volunteers]] (2+)*: Kaustav Das, Nik Prusinski<br />
*[[TelescopeCaptain][Telescope Captain]]*: Andreas Faisst<br />
*[[TelescopeVolunteer][Telescope Volunteers]] (3+)*: Robin Wen, Carl Crum<br>
*Attendees*: 180<br>
130 in-person + 50 online = 180 attendees.  Good turnout and good weather conditions.  Moon, Jupiter, and M81 were viewed.<br>
Lots of engagement at our Q&A panel after Evan's presentation on the CGM.  Slightly high level talk with a bit of jargon.<br>

---++++ Friday, May 9, 8:00-11:30PM<br>
Black Hole Day at Luz Observatory<br>
Organizer: Cameron Hummels<br>
Attendees: 150<br>
Cameron gave a public lecture at the Luz Observatory in Apple Valley, followed by guided stargazing with telescopes.<br>
The talk was on black holes, as it coincided with Black Hole Day.<br>

---++++ Monday, May 12, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20250512][Astronomy on Tap @ Dog Haus]]<br />
*[[AoTCaptain][MC]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[AoTSpeaker][Speakers]] (2)*: Gabriele Vajente, Ana Bonaca<br />
*[[AoTVolunteer][Volunteer]] (3+)*: Maggie Li, Delaney White, Isaac Cheng, Facundo Perez<br>
*Attendees*: 200<br>
Great event.  Some technical issues in getting the video recorded from the laptop.  But beyond that, things went smoothly.<br>
Excellent presentations from our speakers and good sets from Jason and Forrest.<br>

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, May 22-24

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: <br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.<Br>

---++++ Sunday, May 25, 10:00AM-2:00PM

[[20250525][Space Ride]]<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*Attendees*: 55<br>
As part of Pasadena Bike Month, we helped organize a free, public group bike ride to various institutions around Pasadena<br>
highlighting discoveries and contributions to astronomy and space exploration.  We began at Caltech, meeting on the Bechtel Lawn<br>
near Caltech Hall.  While people were arriving, we had a table set up with a solar telescope and free NASA swag.  When everyone<br>
had arrived, Cameron gave a 15-minute informal presentation describing Caltech's history and focused on discoveries associated with<br>
black holes here at Caltech (Maarten Schmidt's discovery of the first quasar/AGN, LIGO's discovery of merging black holes, Katie Bouman<br>
and EHT's first image of a black hole, Andrea Ghez's observations of Sgr A*, and Kareem El-Badry's detection of BH-1, the closest black hole<br>
to our solar system.  After that, the whole group rode to the Planetary Society, NASA JPL, and Carnegie Observatories, each with a 15-minute<br>
presentation given by a local scientist (e.g., Geo Somoza, Matt Stumbo, Jeff Rich).  In total, it was a nice day, no injuries or mechanicals, and over<br>
50 riders biked the 15 miles between institutions.<br>

---++++ Thursday, May 29, 10:00AM-2:00PM

Visit to David E. Norman Elementary in Ely, NV<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*Attendees*: 75<br>
While in Ely, NV, Cameron visited the elementary school to speak to their 3 5th grade classes about astronomy and space.<br>
Most of the children were very engaged and had lots of questions.  No formal lesson, just Q&A.  Topics covered: formation of<br>
the solar system, galactic structure and collisions, possibility of extraterrestrials, northern lights.  We discussed the possibility<br>
of longer term project-based program of investigation for the students with multiple visits over several months.<br>

---++++ Thursday, May 29, 10:00AM-2:00PM

Ely NV STEAM Festival<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels, Katie Jameson<br />
*Attendees*: 100<br>
While in Ely, NV, Cameron and Katie operated a science demo at the local STEAM Festival.  The festival hosted about a dozen different<br>
booths from around the community primarily extolling scientific opportunities.  Our booth was a sun funnel on the 4" dob, a SeeStar pointed<br>
at the Sun, the marshmallow demo, and several free swag items (HST images, JWST images, and DSA-2000 swag).  Lots of interested children<br>
and parents stopped by to learn about the Sun and the DSA project.

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, May 29-31

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: Cameron Hummels, Katie Jameson<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.  <Br>

---++++ Friday, May 30, 11:00AM-2:00PM

Visit to Boys and Girls Club in Ely, NV<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels and Katie Jameson<br />
*Attendees*: 50<br>
While in Ely, NV, Cameron and Katie visited the Boys and Girls Club to talk to the students about astronomy and space science.  This club<br>
serves the students of the community on Fridays when there is no formal school (also in Summer). It as an educational outlet<br>
for working parents to bring their children when school is not in session.  We answered questions of the kids about space and science for a few hours.<br>
Longer term opportunities to teach science modules are possible over the course of the summer.

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, June 5-7

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: Katie Jameson<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.<Br>

---++++ Friday, June 6, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20250606][Stargazing Lecture - Space Weather and the Evolution of Habitability]]<br />
*[[Lecturer]]*: Ivey Davis<br />
*[[LectureCaptain][Lecture Captain]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[LectureVolunteer][Lecture Volunteers]] (2+)*: Emily Silich, Maggie Li, Jean Somalwar<br />
*[[TelescopeCaptain][Telescope Captain]]*: Sam Rose<br />
*[[TelescopeVolunteer][Telescope Volunteers]] (3+)*: Carl Crum, Becky Williams<br>
*Attendees*: 200<br>
150 in-person + 50 online = 200 attendees.  Great turnout for Ivey's talk on space weather! Despite some A/V technical problems at the beginning<br>
the whole event turned out well.  The encoder in the lectern was malfunctioning, and it took several power cycles to get it to work again OK.<br>
Ivey gave a strong presentation and there were lots of relevant questions for our panel.  The weather was clear and afforded views of the first-quarter<br>
moon, whirlpool galaxy, and ring nebula on the two eVscopes outside.  <br>

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, June 12-14

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: Gabe Muro<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.  <Br>

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, June 19-21

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: Maggie Li, Katie Jameson, Amy Steele<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.  Visit to Ely Boys and Girls Club on Thursday morning.<Br>

---++++ Monday, June 23, 8:00-9:00AM

Rubin Observatory "First Look" Watch Party<br>
Organizer: Cameron Hummels<br>
Attendees: 60<br>
The Vera Rubin Observatory had its grand debut of first images today, with live-streams at several locations globally.<br>
We hosted a publicly-accessible event in Hameetman with 60 attendees, composed of both professional scientists<br>
from Caltech, as well as members of the public.  I was actually pretty surprised to see ~20 members of the public show<br>
up to an outreach event at 8AM on a Monday.  Everyone seemed pretty excited about the new data.<br>

---++++ Monday, June 23, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20250623][Astronomy on Tap @ Dog Haus]]<br />
*[[AoTCaptain][MC]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[AoTSpeaker][Speakers]] (2)*: Yoonsoo Kim, Sarah Habib<br />
*[[AoTVolunteer][Volunteer]] (3+)*: Nicholas Rui, Sam Whitebook, Delina Levine, Sam Rose, Kyle Nelli<br>
*Attendees*: 350<br>
Huge turnout for Astro on Tap!  Second largest event in our history, only to the 100th event featuring Mike Brown and Lori Leshin.<br>
It was nice weather, clear for observing and mid-70s, which certainly factored into things.  It was also the first day of Elias Most's<br>
relativistic astrophysics summer school, so that likely boosted it by a couple dozen attendees.  It's also the beginning of the summer,<br>
when the JPL intern program and Caltech SURF programs have begun, so maybe that contributed.  Lastly, I guess NPR 89.3 radio station<br>
announced it on air that it was something fun to do in Pasadena.  Either way, the turnout was big and sort of hard to manage.  Afterwards,<br>
I received comments from a few people that we've outgrown our venue and that people left early.  The beer/food line was around the block<br>
and back onto almost Green and Raymond.  And there were so many people standing in the interior courtyard that it was very difficult <br>
for people in the alley way to see or hear the presentations.  I will try to get another tall speaker stand to ensure that our speakers rise above<br>
the crowd so people can hear it better, but I'm not sure what to do about presentation visibility.  I have asked Arjun to perhaps purchase<br>
another TV so that we can place it in the courtyard for the alley audience to see better.  Alternatively, we could try lifting up the screens <br>
higher so they're more visible.  Hard to say.  In addition, Jason Achilles and Forrest Mitchell performed, and it was good.  Sadly, they <br>
weren't able to sell any merch, though.  So I don't know how to keep encouraging them to come?  Sarah and Yoonsoo's presentations <br>
were great and well received.  The speakers sounded good too, but I had problems ensuring that the screen recording worked on my<br>
laptop unfortunately.  Not sure how to correct for that.  Telescope was able to see M51 and people were happy.  On top of all the confusion,<br>
when we arrived at the bar, one of the TVs was missing and not set up.  I guess the rolling stand fixture had broken two days prior.  So<br>
Nicholas, Delina, and I had to set it up on a folding table at the front, which took 15 minutes, but we got it working OK. All in all, a very successful<br>
event despite some hangups.<br><br>

Following all of this, I talked to the owner of the Dog Haus and came up with a plan moving forward.  He's going to buy an additional TV<br>
which will operate in the alleyway to ensure more people can see the presentation screens.  I have purchased a wireless HDMI transmitter<br>
and receiver system, which allows us to avoid running HDMI cables all over and just broadcasts wirelessly to each of the 3 TVs.  <br>
Additionally, I'm going to buy another tall speaker stand to ensure that our speakers are both 6' high and can hopefully broadcast over the<br>
crowds effectively.  Arjun also said he'd come up with a promotional deal (happy hour) for our guests, and allow us a larger bar tab.<br>
It sounds like having direct payment from the Dog Haus to Caltech Astro could work, but it would be financially tricky to make sure it <br>
actually reached Caltech Astro Outreach.  Overall, lots of progress!<br>

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, June 26-28

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: Maggie Li, Amy Steele<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.  Visit to Ely Boys and Girls Club on Thursday morning.<Br>

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, July 3-5

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: Katie Jameson, Amy Steele<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.  Visit to Ely Boys and Girls Club on Thursday morning.<Br>

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, July 10-12

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: Amy Steele<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.  Visit to Ely Boys and Girls Club on Thursday morning.<Br>

---++++ Monday, July 14, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20250714][Astronomy on Tap @ Dog Haus]]<br />
*[[AoTCaptain][MC]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[AoTSpeaker][Speakers]] (2)*: Isabel Sands, Daichi Tsuna<br />
*[[AoTVolunteer][Volunteer]] (3+)*: Sam Rose, Facundo Pérez Paolino, Harshda Saxena, Advait Mehla, Tim Proudkii, Sasha Mintz, Isaac Cheng<br>
*Attendees*: 325<br>
Super great turnout again with some solid talks from Isabel and Daichi.  We had a third television, which helped a lot for people being able to view<br>
the talks, and I got speaker stands that were able to boost the speakers to 6' with much better transmission of sound over peoples' heads.  The bar agreed<br>
to offer happy hour prices throughout the event, and people were very excited about this.  Music was great and not too loud so no complaints there.  <br>
Telescopes were operating and people were excited to see things in the sky.  Overall things are finally going well with these events!<br>

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, July 17-19

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: Tim Proudkii, Amy Steele<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.  Visit to Ely Boys and Girls Club on Thursday morning.<Br>

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, July 24-26

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: Tim Proudkii, Amy Steele<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.  Visit to Ely Boys and Girls Club on Thursday morning.<Br>

---++++ Friday, July 25, 8:00-10:00PM

[[20250725][Stargazing Lecture - How to Build a Solar System]]<br />
*[[Lecturer]]*: Adolfo Carvalho<br />
*[[LectureCaptain][Lecture Captain]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[LectureVolunteer][Lecture Volunteers]] (2+)*: Myles Sherman, Emily Silich<br />
*[[TelescopeCaptain][Telescope Captain]]*: Andreas Faisst<br />
*[[TelescopeVolunteer][Telescope Volunteers]] (3+)*: Becky Williams, David Berg, Simon Liu, Sareen Boschetti<br>
*Attendees*: 260<br>
200 in-person + 60 online = 260 attendees.  Adolfo's presentation got covered in Pasadena Now newspaper, which may have contributed to the turnout, but we had a full house.  <Br>
Lots of enthusiasm and interest as well as clear skies for stargazing.  I had a hard time getting volunteers this week, possibly due to the summer months and people traveling,<br>
but in the end we managed.  We even had a volunteer from the local high school contribute.  Adolfo gave a great presentation which was pretty accessible, and almost the entire<br>
Q&A panel session was devoted to questions of solar system and planetary evolution.  Telescopes looked at M27, M57, and M13.<br>


---++++ Wednesday, July 30, 11:00AM-12:00PM

MonteCedro Senior Community Astronomy Talk<br />
*Presenter*: Sandy Weinreb<br>
*Attendees*: 40<br>

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, July 31-August 2

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: Myles Sherman, Katie Jameson<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.  Visit to Ely Boys and Girls Club on Thursday morning.<Br>

---++++ Monday, August 4, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20250804][Astronomy on Tap @ Dog Haus]]<br />
*[[AoTCaptain][MC]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[AoTSpeaker][Speakers]] (2)*: Morgan Cable, David Vartanyan<br />
*[[AoTVolunteer][Volunteer]] (3+)*: Facundo Perez Paolino, Yabo Ogunduyile, Robert Mailliard, Isaac Cheng, Tim Proudkii<br>
*Attendees*: 275<br>
One of the smoothest events we've hosted here.  Great turnout, but not too many.  Our A/V setup worked well between the 3 TVs and the lifted speakers.  The presentations were<br>
really excellent, and the crowd was totally into them.  No music from Jason Achilles, which was too bad, but there was a conflict in scheduling this time.  Clear views of M57.  <br>
Very happy with this one.

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, August 7-9

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: Xander Hall, Harshda Saxena, Amy Steele<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.  Visit to Ely Boys and Girls Club on Thursday morning.<Br>

---++++ Monday, August 11, 11:00AM-12:00PM

MonteCedro Senior Community Astronomy Talk<br />
*Presenter*: Martijn Oei<br>
*Attendees*: 40<br>

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, August 14-16

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: Xander Hall, Harshda Saxena, Amy Steele<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.  Visit to Ely Boys and Girls Club on Thursday morning.<Br>

---++++ Friday, August 15, 8:00-10:00PM

[[20250815][Stargazing Lecture - Agujeros Negros y Ondas Gravitacionales]]<br />
*[[Lecturer]]*: Javier Roulet<br />
*[[LectureCaptain][Lecture Captain]]*: Rocio Kiman<br />
*[[LectureVolunteer][Lecture Volunteers]] (2+)*: Sergio Fajardo-Acosta, Facundo Perez Paolino<br />
*[[TelescopeCaptain][Telescope Captain]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[TelescopeVolunteer][Telescope Volunteers]] (3+)*: Delaney White, Maria Sanchez, Robbie Mailliard<br>
*Attendees*: 40<br>
20 in-person + 20 online = 40 attendees.  Pretty good turnout considering this was a foreign language event.  We still cannot seem to get the word out to the spanish-language<br>
communities very well, but at least the auditorium wasn't empty.  The people who did turn out were generally all bilingual, but they were very enthusiastic.  A great presentation<br>
by Javier and a very active panel Q&A.  Mostlyl clear weather but a bit of haze by the end of the stargazing.  We used the eVscope and 8" dob to view Albireo, M13, and M57.<br>

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, August 21-23

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: David Kaplan, Dawn Erb, Katie Jameson, Amy Steele<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.  Visit to Ely Boys and Girls Club on Thursday morning.<Br>

---++++ Thursday, August 21, 11:00AM-12:00PM

MonteCedro Senior Community Astronomy Talk<br />
*Presenter*: Delaney Dunne<br>
*Attendees*: 40<br>

---++++ Friday, August 22, 8:00-10:00PM

[[20250822][Stargazing Lecture - Cosmic Fireworks: How Astronomers Explore the Changing Sky]]<br />
*[[Lecturer]]*: Sam Rose<br />
*[[LectureCaptain][Lecture Captain]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[LectureVolunteer][Lecture Volunteers]] (2+)*: Delina Levine, Sam Whitebook<br />
*[[TelescopeCaptain][Telescope Captain]]*: Andreas Faisst<br />
*[[TelescopeVolunteer][Telescope Volunteers]] (3+)*: Robbie Mailliard, Laura Fredericks, Yabo Ogunduyile<br>
*Attendees*: 150<br>
110 in-person + 40 online = 150 attendees.  Good turn out and reception for Sam's presentation.  Cool spectroscopy demo that we performed with diffraction gratings.<br>
Reasonably clear skies and observations of M57, M13, and Albireo.  The SURFs were very helpful.  Sam's talk went long, mostly because she had gone without<br>
sleep for 36h due to observing the kilonova the night before.<br><br>

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, August 28-30

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: Casey Law, Greg Hellbourg, Amy Steele<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.  Visit to Ely Boys and Girls Club on Thursday morning.<Br>

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, September 4-6

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: Mike Kelzenberg<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.  Visit to Ely Boys and Girls Club on Thursday morning.<Br>

---++++ Thursday-Saturday, September 11-13

Star Train at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV<br />
*Volunteers*: Nils Vu, Amy Steele<br>
*Attendees*: 140<br>
Sunset, Stars, and Champagne Train on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Star Train on Friday evening.  Visit to Ely Boys and Girls Club on Thursday morning.<Br>

---++++ Friday - Sunday, September 12-14

[[20250912][Sequioa NP Dark Sky Festival]]<br />
*Organizer*: Delina Levine<br />
*Volunteers*: Hazel Yun, Facundo Perez Paolino, Harshda Saxena, Advait Mehla, Sam Rose, Hanna Adamski<br>
*Attendees*:<br>
It sounds like the festival went really well from the accounts of everyone.  Harshda, Sam, and Facundo each gave public presentations, which had good attendance.<br>
Then there was a Q&A panel consisting of Hazel, Harshda, Advait, and Facundo just before the keynote that had a good turnout.  Finally, the team brought Cameron's<br>
eVscope2 and set it up at the star party, with lots of engagement.  Clear weather and the students had some good hikes and camping too.  <br>

---++++ Monday, September 15, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20250915][Astronomy on Tap @ Dog Haus]]<br />
*[[AoTCaptain][MC]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[AoTSpeaker][Speakers]] (2)*: Adam Steltzner, Susan Redmond<br />
*[[AoTVolunteer][Volunteer]] (3+)*: Zafar Rustamkulov, Delaney White, Dee Dunne, Sam Whitebook, April Luce, Advait Mehla<br>
*Attendees*: 350<br>
Another huge tournout at Astronomy on Tap this month.  I guess the nice weather and the discussion of Mars brought people out?  We also had Jason Achilles on music, which was great.<br>
Lots of technical challenges tonight.  The bar didn't have anything ready for us, no table, no extra TV, no cords, and they were slow to get things ready.  They also didn't offer happy hour pricing<br>
like we had agreed upon.  Cameron arrived later than desired, which also made things start a bit late.  But the talks were great nonetheless and people were pretty happy with the event.<br>

---++++ Friday - Sunday, September 19-21

[[20250919][Great Basin NP Astronomy Festival]]<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*Volunteers*: Ruby Byrne, Mike Kelzenberg, Katie Jameson, Amy Steele<br>
*Attendees*: <br>
Strong showing at the Great Basin Astronomy Festival from Caltech.  Despite some late cancellations from multiple grad students to come help, we still had a positive impact this year.<br>
Mike and Ruby drove out and contributed presentations and assistance at our two Astronomy on Tap evenings.  Katie Jameson and Amy Steele joined last minute, with Katie filling in<br>
for one of the talk slots and Amy operating the telescope at both events.  Lots of enthusiastic participants, where we filled the outdoor venue to capacity with ~75 on the first night and ~65<br>
on the second night.  The weather held off and we had some amazing skies as well.  Mike had some car troubles on the way out, and Cameron got sick(er) from this trip, but for the festival <br>
itself, it was a great success and a lot smoother than last year.

---++++ Friday, October 3, 8:00-10:00PM

[[20251003][Stargazing Lecture - Astronomy on our Doorstep: Searching for Near-Earth Objects]]<br />
*[[Lecturer]]*: Joe Masiero<br />
*[[LectureCaptain][Lecture Captain]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[LectureVolunteer][Lecture Volunteers]] (2+)*: Myles Sherman, Nick Choksi<br />
*[[TelescopeCaptain][Telescope Captain]]*: Andreas Faisst<br />
*[[TelescopeVolunteer][Telescope Volunteers]] (3+)*: Sareen Boschetti, Maggie Li, Laura Fredericks, Poulomi Dam<br>
*Attendees*: 180<br>
130 in-person + 50 online = 180 attendees. I was a bit concerned that we wouldn't have a good turnout tonight because there was a public lecture occurring at the same time in Beckman<br>
being given by the venerable Kip Thorne.  However, much to my surprise, we had great attendance despite the conflict.  Notably, our event was free and theirs cost $25 / ticket.  Either way<br>
Joe gave a fantastic talk on asteroids and solar system physics--one of our best.  The weather was clear, and we had some great targets in the sky with the gibbous moon, Saturn, and <br>
the Ring Nebula.  The Q&A panel went well too.  The one hangup was that we had some slight A/V problems where the sound glitched a few times to our online audience.  Chris Mach<br>
had not provided new batteries to the microphones, despite me requesting them.  I think it may have also been internet throughput between our live-streaming computer (my computer) and<br>
the YouTube servers, as the problems seemed to go away when I connected via ethernet cable instead of relying on wifi for transmission.  A good lesson to learn: use an ethernet connection!<br>

---++++ Wednesday, October 10, 11:00AM-12:00PM

MonteCedro Senior Community Astronomy Talk<br />
*Presenter*: Nivedita Mahesh<br>
*Attendees*: 40<br>

---++++ Monday, October 13

[[20251013][Ely Fifth Grade Schools Visit]]<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br>
*Volunteer*: Katie Jameson<br>
*Attendees*: 80<br>
We visited four separate 5th-grade classrooms over the course of the day, including three classes at David E. Norman Elementary,<br>
and one class at Learning Bridge Charter School.  This covered all of the 5th graders in Ely, NV.  Cameron taught a lesson on<br>
the rotation and orbit of the Earth, Moon, and Sun, including some notes about the planets and how and why the constellations change.<br>
We also discussed that constellations are composed of stars like our own Sun, many of which have stellar and planetary companions.<br>
This helps fulfill the 5th grade educational standards for the State of Nevada.  We had a lot of engagement and questions from the students and <br>
eagerness for us to come back.<br>

---++++ Friday-Sunday, October 17-19

[[20251017][California Dark Sky Festival]]<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*Volunteers*: Ipek Kerkeser, Advait Mehla, Gaurav Waratkar<br>
*Attendees*: 350<br>
Great event.  Weather was the best I've ever experienced in Panamint, with three days of windless clear skies.  MW easily<br>
visible to the naked eye all night.  Cameron's lectures went well and people were very happy with them: Solar System Formation, <br>
Space Exploration, and Black Holes.  We hosted the standard solar demos with the 4" dob and sun funnel, alongside the <br>
marshmallow demonstration.  Changes to this one included sweetened cocoa powder as well as graham crackers for true smores.<br>
The Q&A panels went well and people seemed to really appreciate our discussions.  Comet Lemmon was visible and some good<br>
astrophotography.  Great event.<br>

---++++ Saturday, October 18, 12:00-2:00PM

[[20251018][Astronomy on Tap @ Caltech Reunion]]<br />
*[[AoTCaptain][MC]]*: Andreas Faisst<br />
*[[AoTSpeaker][Speakers]] (2)*: Jamie Bock, Sam Rose<br />
*[[AoTVolunteer][Volunteer]] (1+)*: Robin Wen, Gemma Huai<br>
*Attendees*: 250<br>
Much larger event than last year, since alumni association decided to make us a headliner for their reunion on Saturday at noon.<br>
Jamie and Sam's talks went well, and pub trivia was good overall with lots of engagement.  Because of time constraints (75 minutes<br>
instead of 120 minutes), the trivia was read aloud and quickly graded, so no real breaks between talks.  Hopefully we can have full <br>
intermissions next year.  Solar telescope viewing with 6" dob and solar filter / sun funnel was a hit, but it occurred after the talks instead<br>
of during intermissions.<br>

---++++ Monday, October 27, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20251027][Astronomy on Tap @ Dog Haus]]<br />
*[[AoTCaptain][MC]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[AoTSpeaker][Speakers]] (2)*: Aniket Sanghi, Katelyn Horstman<br />
*[[AoTVolunteer][Volunteer]] (3+)*: Advait Mehla, Delaney White, Anusha Pai Asnodkar, Clarissa Do O<br>
*Attendees*: 200<br>
Decreased attendance tonight, presumably because it's game 3 of the World Series and the LA Dodgers are in the series.  Some challenges <br>
with setup and A/V tonight without many experienced volunteers, but we got it done.  Saturn and Moon up, as well as M31 in eVscope.<br>
Talks were good and lots of engagement with speakers.  Jason and Forrest dressed up as Han and Chewy, which was cool.  <br>

---++++ Monday, November 3

[[20251103][Ely Fifth Grade Schools Visit]]<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br>
*Volunteer*: Katie Jameson<br>
*Attendees*: 80<br>
We visited five separate 5th-grade classrooms over the course of two days, including three classes at David E. Norman Elementary,<br>
one class at Learning Bridge Charter School, and one class at McGill Elementary School.  This covered nearly all of the 5th graders in <br>
White Pine County, NV (not including Lund Elementary who have not responded to my messages).  We first reviewed some concepts that<br>
we covered a few weeks ago: the rotation and orbit of the Earth, Moon, and Sun, including some notes about the planets and how <br>
and why the constellations change, and stars being Suns at large distances.  Then we talked about gravity, discussing it as an attractive
force holding us to the surface of the Earth, but that gravity attracts anything with mass to anything else with mass.  We had the students<br>
predict if heavier things fell faster than light things, then conducted an experiments with a ping pong ball and a tennis ball dropped from <br>
height to show that objects fall at the same rate.  We also talked about the effects of changing one's location to the surface of the Moon <br>
16% G or Jupiter 250% G).  We had a lot of engagement and questions from the students and eagerness for us to come back.<br>

---++++ Monday, November 3, 5-7PM

Telescopes at Ely Christmas Tree Event<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br>
*Volunteer*: Katie Jameson<br>
*Attendees*: 150<br>
The Christmas Tree that is destined for the National Mall was cut down in Nevada a few days ago, and it is traveling across the USA, <br>
making stops in small communities along the way.  Ely hosted this National Christmas Tree for a public viewing event with additional <br>
activities for members of the community including booths and activities.  We collaborated with the tourism office to bring telescopes<br>
and set them up for members of the public to get a peek of the sky.  The weather was perfect, with very clear skies and a great turnout.<br>
We had a view of the nearly full Moon and Saturn in the 6" dobsonian, and the Ring Nebula in the eVscope2.  We also set up a table<br>
with DSA-related swag and some of the HST lithographs we give out to people.  There were lots of really excited people, particularly<br>
to see Saturn's rings in the telescope. <br>

---++++ Friday, November 7, 8:00-10:00PM

[[20251107][Stargazing Lecture - Building the World’s Most Powerful Radio Telescope]]<br />
*[[Lecturer]]*: Gregg Hallinan<br />
*[[LectureCaptain][Lecture Captain]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[LectureVolunteer][Lecture Volunteers]] (2+)*: Kritti Sharma, Myles Sherman<br />
*[[TelescopeCaptain][Telescope Captain]]*: Sam Rose<br />
*[[TelescopeVolunteer][Telescope Volunteers]] (3+)*: Laura Fredericks, Jaeden Bardati, Ines Belkhodja<br>
*Attendees*: 240<br>
170 in-person + 70 online = 240 attendees. Great presentation and event overall.  Gregg gave a spectacular presentation on radio <br>
astronomy and on the DSA to a packed audience with standing room only.  The weather was very clear and we had some great <br>
stargazing opportunities for people on the athletic fields.  Good job to our panelists answering questions all evening.  I had a minor <br>
freakout when Gregg hadn't arrived early, but he ended up walking in at 7:56PM, and we were able to start on time somehow.  <br>
No major technical hurdles except the volume being pretty low on the house speakers--I'll have to turn that up next time.<br>

---++++ Wednesday, November 12, 6-8PM

Garfield High School Physics Club Astronomy Night<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*Volunteers*: Becky Williams<br>
*Attendees*: 80<br>
Garfield HS recently formed a physics club, and some of their amibitious students assembled an astronomy night, inviting several <br>
local institutions including Caltech, Carnegie, CalPoly Pomona, Pomona College, UC Riverside, etc.  There were three presentations<br>
(Francisco Mercado on galaxies, Jessica Spake on exoplanets, and me on black holes), as well as several different tables with science<br>
demos set up for a couple of hours.  We brought the eVscope and two other groups brought Celestrons.  The weather was not great<br>
with patchy clouds, but the Celestrons were able to get Saturn (in and out) and the eVscope could eventually get M31.  <br>
Overall, a pretty good evening for a lot of students from East LA.<br>

---++++ Sunday, November 16, 12-4PM

[[20251116][City of Astronomy Festival, Pasadena Convention Center]]<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*Volunteers (11:00AM-2:00PM)*: Sam Rose, İpek Kerkeser, Dee Dunne<br>
*Volunteers (2:00AM-4:30PM)*: Sam Rose, İpek Kerkeser, Gabe Muro, Jaeden Bardati, Tirth Surti<br>
*DSA Volunteers (11:00AM-2:00PM)*: Kiran Shila	Dean Howarth<Br>
*DSA Volunteers (2:00AM-4:30PM)*: Casey Law	Giangi Sacco<br>
*Attendees*: 1000<br>
What an event!  We had an atmospheric river come into LA in the preceding days, and we just caught the tail end of it.<br>
There was some talk of canceling the event altogether, but we ended up persevering and I'm glad we did.  A huge success overall.<br>
Sixtenn different organizations were represented including Caltech, Caltech Astro, Carnegie, Griffith, Planetary Society, JPL, IPAC, <br>
LIGO, USC SSP, DSA, Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, Auburn, CPEP, TAE, UCLA, and some childrens authors.  We had two tables outside<br>
the convention center under EZ-UPs (Caltech comets and Carnegie) to help draw attention, and then the rest were inside the Pasadena<br>
Conference Center.  In addition to the science demos, we had eight 20-minute presentations every 30-minutes throughout the program,<br>
and all of them were standing room only throughout (80+ in the auditorium).  Fortunately, CSULA grad students came to the rescue and<br>
helped us staff the welcome table and other helper roles throughout the space, since we'd had some last-minute cancellations.  They<br>
really helped.  From Caltech Astro, we had one table of VR headsets doing GR demos (Kristen Aloh's group), one table doing the <br>
comet demos outside, one table doing spectra with diffraction gratings and a couple of different light sources.  DSA-2000 had a <br>
table with free swag, a 3D model of one of the antennas, and one of the cakepan feeds.  All in all, I'm really happy with how everything<br>
turned out.  For photos of the event, there is a google photo album here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZanafosGwGwUJ6qh9<br>
For a survey I sent to all of the participating teams, you can see the survey and results here and here: https://forms.gle/wF7LukPK9rh4G8HA7 <Br>
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ntewg-zg-WhPubWVeJxc1iol5KTDHqejRYreRHQfzv8/edit?usp=sharing <br>
Feedback for next time: use a larger space; spread out the tables; larger auditorium; brighter projector?; wireless microphone?; <br>
easels with map and presentation schedule at front; official photographer?; advertise sooner; visitor's guide or other takeaway items; <br>
hire concessions nearby (food trucks)?; welcome table; include CSULA, Mt. Wilson, TMT, GMT, LAAS?, Pomona AS, etc.<Br>

---++++ Monday, November 17, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20251117][Astronomy on Tap @ Dog Haus]]<br />
*[[AoTCaptain][MC]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[AoTSpeaker][Speakers]] (2)*:  Eva Kostadinova, Oak Nelson<br />
*[[AoTVolunteer][Volunteer]] (3+)*: Jaeden Bardati, Tirth Surti, Sasha Mintz, Tim Proudkii<br>
*Attendees*: 90<br>
Weather forecast for Monday night was a heavy rainstorm, so at 1PM that day, I postponed our event to the following day.  It did indeed rain hard during<br>
our original scheduled event, so I'm glad I moved it.  Tuesday was mostly dry, with a slight sprinkle, but we were under the patio awning and safe<br>
from the light rain.  Despite the bad weather, the irregular day, and the cold weather (~50F), we still had 90 people turn out for our talks.  The plasma<br>
physicists also brought a Van de Graff Generator, which was cool, but it didn't work particularly well because of the high humidity.  No major technical<br>
problems tonight, although we didn't use the 3rd TV because of threats of rain.  The talks were pretty good, although long and a bit rambly (~35-40 min). <br>
I'm not sure how I can convey to speakers to keep their talks short and accessible.  We were able to set up a dobsonian telescope to look at Saturn,<br>
which came in and out of the clouds.  Also, there was a guy named Stephen who showed up and set up a table with his astrophotography work there,<br>
which was sort of weird.  He wasn't' apparently trying to sell anything, but  I'll consider on whether I want him to come back.<br>

---++++ Wednesday, November 19, 7:30-9:30PM

Watson Lecture Pre-Show Telescopes<br />
*Organizer*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*Volunteers*: Ines Belkhodja, Ipek Kerkeser<br>
*Attendees*: 200<br>
Clear cool weather for the pre-Watson Lecture turnout.  It's always so amazing to see how much infrastructure the Caltech Events team gets for their<br>
events.  They had almost as many booths (and a food truck!) as we did for the science festival last week and it was just for the Watson Lecture pre-show.<Br>
We set up the eVscope and the 6" dob to look at the Ring Nebula and Saturn.  Lots of visitors to the telescopes and a lot of interest.  I handed out HST swag,<br>
and some Caltech Astro business cards.  Nice night.<br>

---++++ Thursday, November 20, 7:30-9:30PM

[[20251120][Astronomy on Tap @ Dog Haus]]<br />
*[[AoTCaptain][MC]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[AoTSpeaker][Speakers]] (2)*: David Schaffner, Mario Manuel<br />
*[[AoTVolunteer][Volunteer]] (3+)*: Harshda Saxena, Sam Rose<br>
*Attendees*: 0<br>
Due to the 3rd heavy winter rain storm in a week directly coinciding with this event, we had to cancel it.  I would normally postpone, but our speakers<br>
were only in town for the APS Division of Plasma Physics meeting in Long Beach this week and tomorrow is the final day.  So it isn't really an option.<br>
A bummer overall, but not really any alternative.<Br>

---++++ Friday, December 5, 8:00-10:00PM

[[20251205][Stargazing Lecture - The History of the Solar System: Insights from JWST Observations of Asteroids]]<br />
*[[Lecturer]]*: Katherine de Kleer<br />
*[[LectureCaptain][Lecture Captain]]*: Cameron Hummels<br />
*[[LectureVolunteer][Lecture Volunteers]] (2+)*: Becky Williams, Tim Proudkii, Audrey Martin<br />
*[[TelescopeCaptain][Telescope Captain]]*: Sam Rose<br />
*[[TelescopeVolunteer][Telescope Volunteers]] (3+)*: Ines Belkhodja, Sasha Mintz<br>
*Attendees*: 190<br>
150 in-person + 40 online = 190 attendees. Great presentation and event overall.  Katherine hosted a spectacular talk on asteroids and the early solar<br>
system.  Very lively audience and great Q&A panel too.  We also got Audrey Martin to host a table in the lobby with rock samples from meteorites in<br>
reference to the content Katherine was presenting on.  So people could interact with her on their way out the door after the presentation.  We'll have to do again.<br>
Clear weather with views of M31, gibbous moon, and Jupiter.<br>

Link back to [[https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/twiki_outreach/bin/view/Main/WebHome][home page]].
Topic revision: r41 - 2025-12-06 - OutreachAdmin