Past Events from 2026

For photos of all past events, see our Flickr Page. For lecture recordings, see our YouTube Page.

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

Monday, January 12, 7:30-9:30PM

Astronomy on Tap @ Dog Haus
MC: Cameron Hummels
Speakers (2): Jesse Han, Allison Matthews
Volunteer (3+): Maggie Li, Delaney White, Advait Mehla, Ipek Kerkeser, Jake Summers, Tim Proudkii, Sasha Mintz
Attendees: 250
Great turnout for a winter event. Weather was clear and not too cold. Telescope views of Orion Nebula and Pleiades in eVscope.
We also tried a new activity by having the GR VR headsets present on a table and staffed by Jake and Ipek, which appeared to be
a success. Each of the talks were solid, and Allison's talk about Grote Reber was a real winner. The audience was enthusiastic as
always. No live music.

Friday, January 23, 8-10PM

Stargazing Lecture - Simulating Galaxies, Stars, Planets, and Giant Black Holes on a Computer
Lecturer: Phil Hopkins
Lecture Captain: Cameron Hummels
Lecture Volunteers (2+): Harshda Saxena, Isabel Sands
Telescope Captain: Maggie Li
Telescope Volunteers (3+): Tirth Surti, Laura Fredericks, Yabo Ogunduyile, Ai-Dan Le, Sasha Mintz, Tim Proudkii
Attendees: 160
120 in-person + 40 online = 160 attendees. Hazy evening, but we were still able to view first quarter moon, Jupiter, and Orion Nebula.
Phil's talk was solid, and lots of good questions from the audience afterwards. Some challenges with the A/V, since the sound system
in Hameetman was recently upgraded, but I had no prior knowledge, so I could not connect the sound for the livestream directly
to the house speaker system. I relied on the shot mic on the video camera to record, which worked, but the sound is super echoey
and pretty hard to understand. I'll try to fix this up for next time. Tim Proudkii saved the day when Maggie Li bailed as Telescope Captain
with <3 hours prior to the event.

Friday - Sunday, February 6 - 8

Death Valley NP Dark Sky Festival
Organizer: Cameron Hummels
Volunteers:
Attendees:

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

Astronomy on Tap @ Dog Haus
MC: Cameron Hummels
Speakers (2): Jack Kiraly, Tom Greene
Volunteer (3+): Ai-Dan Le, Randy Muñoz, Bruno Bitencourt, Maggie Li, Delaney White
Attendees: 180
Busy night after the Death Valley Dark Sky Festival over the weekend. Good turnout for a winter event with ~180 in attendance.
Large contingent from astronomical community to see both Tom and Jack speak (with a lot of Planetary Society employees turning out).
Weather conditions were partly cloudy, but we were still able to make out Jupiter in the haze with the 6" dob. Great talks by Jack and Tom
with a lot of enthusiam for both. Dog Haus installed an additional outlet for us on the roof so we could plug in the 3rd TV without running a
long extension cable to the alley, but unfortunately there wasn't enough power on the circuit and it caused the overhead lights to flash when
we plugged it in. So no go this time, and we just used the old method with the long extension cord. Lots of new volunteers this time, but
Delaney and Maggie were helpful in getting everyone up to speed. No real A/V problems, which is good.

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