Orange County Astronomers

Open Spiral Bar
2024-10-12 22:00 - 23:30, 2024-11-09 22:00 - 23:30, 2024-12-14 22:00 - 23:30, 2025-01-11 22:00 - 23:30, 2025-02-08 22:00 - 23:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Online
This is a free and open to the public online event.
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Come and socialize with your fellow astronomy enthusiasts face-to-face virtually!
Bring your latest astrophotography, mini-presentation, questions or none and your own refreshments.

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General Meeting – November 2024
2024-11-08 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
This is a free and open to the public hybrid event, held both inperson and online.
Due to the newly effective insurance requirements, we regret that we can not allow people under 18 on the Chapman Campus, they are welcome to attend online.
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This meeting’s speaker will present online from San Jose, CA.

From Vision to Reality:

The Journey of Kosovo’s First Observatory

In 2024, we successfully established the first observatory and science center in Kosovo, a landmark achievement in a country with a rich but turbulent history. This project was not just about building an astronomical facility; it symbolized triumph over obstacles that ranged from logistical challenges to securing international support. Through perseverance, partnerships with organizations like Celestron, and the belief in the transformative power of science, we brought the stars closer to the people of Kosovo. This talk will highlight our journey, the hurdles we overcame, and how this observatory is now inspiring future generations of scientists and stargazers alike.

Pranvera Hyseni is a graduate student from the Republic of Kosovo, currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Science at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the founder of Astronomy Outreach of Kosovo (AOK), which is recognized as the largest astronomy outreach program in Eastern Europe. Additionally, she manages the Kosovo Chapter of the Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project.
Ms. Hyseni’s interest in astronomy began at an early age of three, during the late 1990s when Kosovo was affected by the Serbian conflict. She was raised in a family of eight on a remote farm, where economic conditions were challenging. Despite these circumstances, the farm’s location provided her with access to clear night skies, igniting her early passion for astronomy.
She single-handedly brought science to her community by establishing the non-profit organization “Astronomy Outreach of Kosovo” in 2015, which has grown into a significant entity with a global network of professional and amateur astronomers supporting her outreach initiatives across Kosovo. Through these extensive outreach activities, AOK has had a substantial impact, reaching and engaging with over 25,000 individuals annually. Her extraordinary commitment has earned her recognition as one of the five most influential women in Kosovo.
Her impact extended beyond AOK through collaborations with the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology of Kosovo, as well as other governmental institutions. Highly regarded for her expertise, she is in high demand as a speaker at universities and international astronomy conferences worldwide. In 2022, she made history by establishing the first International Astronomy and Planetary Sciences Convention in Kosovo, featuring esteemed astronomers and scientists.
Currently based in San Jose, California, Pranvera Hyseni’s research focuses on understanding the formation histories of asteroids, comets, and meteorites through spectroscopy analysis. In 2017, her contributions to the field received recognition from the International Astronomical Union and the Minor Planet Center, resulting in the naming of an asteroid in her name, 45687 Pranverahyseni. The Mars Generation organization honored her with the “24Under24” award for her leadership in STEM education. She received the “Master Outreach Award” from the Astronomical League in 2019 and the “Michael Reynolds Astronomy Award” from the Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers in 2020.
Pranvera Hyseni’s research achievements extend to her provisional discovery of a Main Belt asteroid, 2020 SS13, utilizing data provided by Pan-STARRS in collaboration with the International Asteroid Search Collaboration. Her research endeavors received financial support with an amount of $5,000 through the “Casey J. Moore Fund Award” from her department at UC Santa Cruz.
Beyond her academic pursuits, Ms. Hyseni is the founder of Kosovo’s first observatory and planetarium. She envisions this science center as a crucial resource accessible to the public, furthering science and technology education. The facility accommodates a Celestron C14 Edge HD telescope with a CGX-L equatorial mount generously donated by Corey Lee, the CEO of Celestron – making it the largest telescope in the entire Republic of Kosovo.
Pranvera Hyseni’s unwavering dedication to advancing science education, outreach, and astronomical research marks her as a notable figure in the scientific community, leaving an enduring impact on generations to come. As a testament to her profound impact, she proudly serves as an Official Brand Ambassador for Celestron, inspiring countless individuals with the wonders of the universe.
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General Meeting – December 2024
2024-12-13 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
This is a free and open to the public hybrid event, held both inperson and online.
Due to the newly effective insurance requirements, we regret that we can not allow people under 18 on the Chapman Campus, they are welcome to attend online.
Join Zoom

This meeting’s speaker will present online from Michigan.

NASA’s Best Images and Videos 2024

Some of the most amazing images and videos from the popular NASA science website Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD: apod.nasa.gov) during 2024 will be presented. The science and stories behind these images will be discussed. Topics will include recently bright aurorae and comets visible from California, Webb and Hubble images of the nearby Solar System and distant universe, our active Sun, the best of amateur astrophotography from around the world, and more.

Dr. Robert Nemiroff is a Professor at Michigan Technological University. He holds a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He is perhaps best known as a creator and editor for one of NASA’s most popular science websites: the Astronomy Picture of the Day at https://apod.nasa.gov/ .
His recent bestseller book “Faster than Light: How Your Shadow Can Do It but You Can’t” can be found here.
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General Meeting – January 2025
2025-01-10 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
This is a free and open to the public hybrid event, held both inperson and online.
Due to the newly effective insurance requirements, we regret that we can not allow people under 18 on the Chapman Campus, they are welcome to attend online.
Join Zoom

This meeting’s speaker will present online from Arizona.

Rubin’s Revolution: From Data to Discovery

Vera C. Rubin Observatory will begin operation 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.

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.
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General Meeting – February 2025
2025-02-14 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
This is a free and open to the public hybrid event, held both inperson and online.
Due to the newly effective insurance requirements, we regret that we can not allow people under 18 on the Chapman Campus, they are welcome to attend online.
Join Zoom

This meeting’s speaker will present inperson.

44 years as a “career Martian” at JPL

Tim Parker began working at JPL as a consultant and a contractor in January 1981. He carried his experience mapping geomorphology in Utah and Nevada for the Air Force’s MX Missile siting program, to his search for evidence of what might have happened to the flood waters from Mars’ catastrophic flood channels, using Viking Orbiter data. By the mid-1980s, Parker had developed a hypothesis suggesting that Mars had an ancient ocean that left behind familiar lakeshore landforms, comparable to those of Pleistocene lakes Bonneville and Lahontan. In 1987, Parker became a JPL employee. He has worked on numerous planetary missions, including CRAF (Comet Rendezvous/Asteroid Flyby), MRSR (Mars Rover Sample Return study), Magellan Venus orbiter, Mars Pathfinder, Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity), Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity), Initial Heliscout (later became Inegnuity), Mars Science Helicopter study, and Mars 2020 (Perseverance). Beginning with the Mars Global Surveyor mission in 1997, a flood of new, high-resolution imagery and topography data has become available for Mars, enabling Parker to further refine and update the ocean hypothesis. Parker is continuing that work in retirement.

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General Meeting – March 2025
2025-03-14 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
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This meeting’s speaker will present inperson.

Mars Helicopter Telecom

The highly successful Ingenuity – Mars Helicopter – technology demonstration came to an end in January 2024 after 72 flights over 1000 sols (1.5 Mars years) exploring Mars. The author led the telecommunications team for Ingenuity from conception through flight operations and describes it here.

Courtney Duncan retired from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory – California Institute of Technology in July 2021 shortly following the initial demonstration flights of the Mars Helicopter Ingenuity.
His 35-year career included support for space shuttle missions and experiments, GPS radio occultation technology from space, stellar interferometry, deep space navigation software, lunar gravity mapping, Deep Space Network transponders for deep space CubeSats, and finally, Ingenuity telecom.
Courtney has been a licensed radio amateur with since 1972, callsign N5BF, and has been involved in many aspects of the hobby from that time. He is a past president of the San Bernardino Microwave Society, a past official of the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, AMSAT-North America, and of the JPL Amateur Radio Club, and frequently gives talks on both the Mars Helicopter and on the profound value to society of avocations such as amateur radio.*
Courtney was married to Viann WD5EHM (SK) for 45 years and has three children, Viannah KG6GXW, Katherine KG6HUI, John KG6HCO, and two grandchildren. He is also a classically trained pianist and is routinely involved in a variety of musical performances.

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General Meeting – April 2025
2025-04-11 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
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This meeting’s speaker will present inperson.

NASA’s Cold Atom Lab:

Quantum Science

and Technology Maturation

on the International Space Station

NASA’s Cold Atom Lab (CAL) launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in May 2018,
and has been operating since that time as the world’s first and only multi-user facility for the study of ultra-cold quantum gases in space. The unique microgravity environment of the ISS is utilized with CAL by a national group of principal investigators to achieve sub-nanokelvin temperature gases, to study and utilize their quantum properties in an environment free from the perturbing force of gravity, and to observe and interact with these gases in the essentially limitless freefall of Earth’s orbit. In addition to the toolbox of capabilities originally built into CAL, an upgrade in 2020 enabled the study of atom interferometry in orbit, and a 2021 upgrade and repair facilitated investigations of the interactions between mixtures of 87Rb, 39K, and 41K and a demonstration of dual-species (87Rb – 41K or 87Rb – 39K) atom interferometry. This talk will review the up-to-date quantum gas research explored with CAL and the technical accomplishments to operate, maintain, and upgrade CAL during its tenure in the microgravity environment of the ISS. The research of CAL has broad applications in fundamental physics and precision sensing to open the door for future quantum-enabled mission opportunities.

This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

2019 Tech Highlights ReportRequesters: Micaela Velasco, Elina SolisPhotographer: R. LannomDate: 13-MAY-2019Photolab order: 070915/171297
Dr. Jason Williams specializes in developing light pulse atom interferometers and optical atomic clocks, and their applications to both fundamental and applied physics in space. He currently serves as Project Scientist and a Principal Investigator for NASA’s Cold Atom Lab, a multi-user facility operating on the ISS dedicated to the study of quantum gases in space. Dr. Williams received his Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University, studying ultracold Fermi gases, and held a NIST NRC Postdoctoral RA in Professor Jun Ye’s lab at JILA and the University of Colorado developing high-precision optical lattice clocks.

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General Meeting – May 2025
2025-05-09 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
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This meeting’s speaker will present live from Albany, NY.

Fast Radio Bursts-Signals

from Across the Universe

This artist’s impression (not to scale) illustrates the path of the fast radio burst FRB 20220610A, from the distant galaxy where it originated all the way to Earth, in one of the Milky Way’s spiral arms. The source galaxy of FRB 20220610A, pinned down thanks to ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), appears to be located within a small group of interacting galaxies. It’s so far away its light took eight billion years to reach us, making FRB 20220610A the most distant fast radio burst found to date.
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are bright flashes of radio waves that last only a few milliseconds and are visible across the universe. Although approximately 10,000 of these occur every day, they were only discovered by accident in 2007. Their origins remain largely unknown, making FRBs one of the hottest topics in radio astronomy. In this talk, Dr. McKee will describe the discovery of FRBs, what we know about them, and what the next few years of radio astronomy holds for this exciting new field of astronomy.
Union College headshotsWednesday, September 4, 2024James McKee, Union College, Physics & Astronomy
Dr. McKee studied physics at the University of Hull, and obtained a PhD in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Manchester while working at Jodrell Bank Observatory. Dr. McKee has held research positions at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, where he was also the on-site pulsar astronomer at the Effelsberg radio telescope, and at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Toronto where he worked on the CHIME telescope. He is currently an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Union College in NY, where he leads research into pulsars and fast radio bursts.
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General Meeting – June 2025
2025-06-13 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
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This meeting’s speaker will present online from Los Angeles.

A Trip to the Center of Our Galaxy

The heart of the Milky Way is home to Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole approximately four million times the mass of the Sun. Although it remains largely quiet today, it is surrounded by a turbulent sea of gas, dust, and exotic objects that could one day trigger dramatic outbursts. This presentation delves into this extreme environment, exploring the large-scale gas clouds and the closer-in structures that fuel the black hole. It examines how molecular hydrogen manages to survive intense ultraviolet radiation and introduces a newly identified class of enigmatic objects orbiting perilously close to Sagittarius A*. Observed over two decades with the Keck Observatory, these objects may represent the remnants of stellar collisions or merged binaries, offering valuable insights into how matter behaves under immense gravitational forces. Mapping this region helps to illuminate the intricate interplay of stars, gas, and gravity at the core of the galaxy.

Anna Ciurlo’s research focuses on stars and gas around the supermassive black hole in the center of our Galaxy. Her work leverages high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy from large ground and space-based observatories like Keck and the JWST. She earned her PhD in astrophysics from the Sorbonne Paris Cité and pursued postdoctoral research at UCLA. She was an inaugural year Keck Visiting Scholar at Keck Observatory. Anna continues at UCLA as an assistant researcher and adjunct assistant professor in the Galactic Center Group.
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General Meeting – July 2025
2025-07-11 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
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This meeting’s speaker will present inperson.

Backyard Exoplanet Observatory …

measuring exoplanets with

a small backyard telescope

Amateur astronomers can measure exoplanet parameters from their suburban backyard using a small telescope, astronomy camera, and a laptop

Mr Hallman is a retired physicist with over 30 years experience in the aerospace industry doing design, development, and testing of imaging systems and sensors operating in the Visible, Infrared, and Radar spectral regions. He has been a member of the OCA for 1 year, and is currently building a backyard Radio Telescope.
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General Meeting – August 2025
2025-08-08 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
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This meeting’s speaker will present online from Topeka, KS.
Exploding Stars and Life on Earth

Scientists have long speculated that the history of life on Earth may have been influenced by cosmic explosions such as supernovae. In recent decades the combination of astrophysical data and computational models have allowed detailed study of the potential effects of nearby stellar explosions on Earth’s atmosphere and biosphere. Impacts range from destruction of stratospheric ozone, exposing life to extreme levels of solar UV, to direct damage to organisms by high-energy neutrons and muons. This talk will summarize what is known today and discuss connections to mass extinctions and the evolution of life over the last few hundred million years.

Dr. Brian Thomas is a Professor in the Physics & Astronomy Department at Washburn University, in Topeka, Kansas. Since 2003 he has worked on various problems related to understanding how the history of life on Earth may have been affected by high-energy astrophysical events such as gamma-ray bursts and supernovae. He and collaborators from multiple disciplines have together produced some of the most detailed and state-of-the-art studies of the effects on Earth by nearby stellar explosions.
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General Meeting – September 2025
2025-09-12 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
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This meeting’s speaker will present inperson from the Chapman campus.
Pathway to a

Post-Global Warming Future

— A Brief Overview of Climate Science,

Consequences, and Solutions

(and their astronomical connections!)

Global warming may not seem obviously connected to astronomy — but it is. In fact, the basic science of global warming is best understood through comparative study of planets. In this presentation, astrophysicist/educator Jeffrey Bennett will give you a brief overview of the surprisingly simple basic science behind global warming (including its astronomical connections) and of the consequences we can expect from this warming. Most important, he’ll focus on solutions and how we can in principle take the steps necessary to create a “post-global warming” future, meaning a future in which today’s children will someday be able to talk about global warming as a once-serious problem that we found a way to solve. Note: This talk is based on Dr. Bennett’s book A Global Warming Primer — Pathway to a Post-Global Warming Future.

Astrophysicist/educator Jeffrey Bennett has devoted his career to science education and outreach. He is probably best known to the astronomy community as the lead author of the widely used textbooks The Cosmic Perspective and Life in the Universe. He is also the author of textbooks in math and statistics; of several critically acclaimed books for educators and the public; and of 7 award-winning science books for children. He served two years as a visiting senior scientist at NASA headquarters, proposed and co-led development of the Voyage Scale Model Solar System on the National Mall (Washington, D.C.), created the free Totality app for learning about solar eclipses, and created a free online textbook for middle school Earth and Space Science. Among other honors, his children’s books were the first ever selected for Story Time From Space, in which books are launched to the International Space Station and read aloud by astronauts, and he has won both the American Institute of Physics Science Communication Award (2014) and the Klopsteg Memorial Award (2023) for education from the American Association of Physics Teachers. In addition to his ongoing speaking series on global warming, his current projects include working to spread Voyage model solar systems across the country, a planetarium show based on his book Max Goes to Mars, and a new book on The Scale of the Universe to be published in January.
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General Meeting – October 2025
2025-10-17 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
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This meeting’s speaker will present inperson from the Chapman campus.

The Search for Earth 2.0:

Why We Think It Exists, and

How We’re Going To Find It

For thousands of years, we’ve wondered if the Earth is unique, or if there are other Earths out there to find. In just the last 30 years, we’ve progressed from merely wondering if planets exist around other stars to knowing that almost every star we see has planets. Ambitious planet searches have been probing further and further, finding planetary systems of an incredible – and incredibly surprising! – variety. However, we have yet to discover another planet that might be like Earth – a rocky planet orbiting just the right distance from a Sun-like star to have liquid water on its surface. NASA has a audacious new plan for a next-generation flagship telescope that will directly image Earth-like planets around nearby stars, but it will take all of our ingenuity and technical prowess to achieve this incredible feat. Dr Christiansen will walk you through the past, present, and future of our hunt for Earth 2.0.

Dr. Jessie Christiansen is the Chief Scientist of the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute and a TED fellow. She has worked on NASA’s Kepler, K2, and TESS missions, searching the sky for exoplanets, and is helping plan for NASA’s next big flagship missions – the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and the Habitable Worlds Observatory. Dr. Christiansen’s research is in the detection and characterization of exoplanets – planets around other stars – and studies of exoplanet populations, and she is currently the most successful woman planet hunter in the world.

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General Meeting – November 2025
2025-11-07 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
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This meeting’s speaker will present inperson from the Chapman campus.

From OCA School Star Parties

to 4K Cameras in Orbit

In this presentation, Liam Kennedy, amateur astronomer, former president of the Orange County Astronomers, and now SpaceTV Director at Sen, shares his remarkable journey from local astronomy outreach to developing technology that now operates aboard the International Space Station.
During his years supporting OCA’s public school programs in the 2000s, Liam discovered how few people realized that astronauts were living and working overhead. That awareness gap sparked the idea that would later become ISS-Above — a small device that alerts users whenever the Space Station passes overhead and, eventually, displayed live video of Earth from orbit.
What began as a personal project to inspire his grandchildren soon attracted global attention, support from The Planetary Society and NASA, and partnerships that placed ISS-Above units in classrooms across the U.S. When NASA’s original HDEV Earth-viewing cameras were retired, Liam refused to let the public lose that connection to space. His persistence led him to collaborate with Sen, a company dedicated to sharing real-time 4K views of Earth from orbit.
Through his initiative, Sen’s SpaceTV-1 camera system became part of the ISS via Airbus’s Bartolomeo platform — fulfilling a vision that began two decades earlier with OCA telescope nights under the stars.
This talk brings that full-circle story to life — showing how one amateur astronomer’s outreach mission grew into a global window on our planet from space.

Liam Kennedy joined Sen in July 2023 as Space TV Director. For over a decade, he has championed live Earth views from the International Space Station (ISS) through his invention of ISS-Above, a Raspberry Pi-based device delivering real-time ISS tracking and video feeds. Since its 2013 Kickstarter launch, ISS-Above has expanded to more than 5,000 installations worldwide, inspiring students, educators, and the public.
In 2019, NASA contacts connected Liam with Sen CEO Charles Black to explore building a commercial UHD camera payload for the ISS. That partnership led to SpaceTV-1, a three-camera system launched in March 2024 and now operating on the Columbus module’s Bartolomeo platform.
Liam’s background blends media production, live streaming, and product innovation, with a focus on astronomy, science, and space outreach. He is a frequent presenter and thought leader in the commercial space sector, featured on technology and space podcasts, and a regular speaker at the ISS R&D Conference, where he has presented five times since 2015.

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General Meeting – December 2025
2025-12-12 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
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This meeting’s speaker will present live from Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

Settling Space with Microbes

Microbes from extreme environments help us search for life on other planets like Mars, but they can also be used to advance the human exploration and settlement of space by producing useful products including mining metals.

Charles Cockell is Professor of Astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh. His scientific interests encompass microbial life in extreme environments, the habitability of extraterrestrial environments and the exploration and settlement of space. He established the UK Centre for Astrobiology at Edinburgh in 2011, a national node of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, which has led many scientific and educational projects. He has published many papers, academic and popular books including the Wiley-Blackwell textbook, ‘Astrobiology’, in its third edition. Recently, he organised and led the Life Beyond project with the Scottish Prison Service, which engaged prisoners in the design of human settlements in space, drawing on their experience of confinement. He has previously worked at NASA Ames Research Centre, the British Antarctic Survey, and The Open University. He received his first degree in biochemistry from Bristol University and his DPhil in molecular biophysics at the University of Oxford.
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General Meeting – January 2026
2026-01-09 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
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This meeting’s speaker will present live from Kutchan, Japan.

Untangling the Rate of

Black Hole Mergers:

A Cosmic Tug of War

On September 14th, 2015, humanity detected a ripple in spacetime 10,000 times smaller than the nucleus of an atom coming from over one billion light-years away. This awesome feat of physics, astronomy, and engineering confirmed Einstein’s prediction of gravitational waves made over one hundred years earlier, and opened the door to a whole new means of studying the Universe. Adam is one of many so-called “gravitational wave paleontologists” seeking to use gravitational waves to unravel the formation, lives, and deaths of stars and black holes that merge, emitting the tiny waves that we now detect daily. Adam will be discussing how he used simulations of millions of massive stars to provide insight into the rates and demographics of mergers throughout the history of the Universe.
Link to paper

Adam Boesky is a rising PhD candidate at Harvard University studying a broad array of topics relating to astrophysical transients. As an undergraduate at Harvard, he focused on mergers of compact objects (black holes and neutron stars), and developed machine learning pipelines for classifying events detected from large-scale astrophysical surveys. Recently, Adam has been focusing on the detection and analysis of the exotic, elusive transients that occur on the timescales of several years.
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General Meeting – February 2026
2026-02-13 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
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Free and open to the public but per our host’s policy, minors (under 18) are welcome to attend as long as they are accompanied by their parent or guardian at all times.
This meeting’s speaker will present inperson from the campus of the Chapman University.

Planetary Habitability in the

Solar System and Beyond

Understanding planetary habitability is one of the major challenges of the current scientific era. Though traditionally viewed through the lens of our home planet and its evolutionary history, data from other Solar System objects, and a plethora of planets outside of our Solar System, are shedding new light on habitability research. This presentation will discuss the factors that contribute to planetary habitability, and how these pieces fit together in an inter-disciplinary pathway that will benefit both the understanding of the evolution of Earth’s habitability and identifying possible abodes of life elsewhere throughout the universe.

Stephen Kane is a Professor of Planetary Astrophysics at the University of California, Riverside. His work covers a broad range of topics and he has discovered hundreds of planets orbiting other stars. He is a leading expert on the topic of planetary habitability, the habitable zone of planetary systems, and the study of why Venus and Earth underwent divergent evolutions. He has published hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific papers as well as several books on the topic of exoplanets and habitability. He is also a prominent scientific leader for several NASA missions designed to search for life in the universe.
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General Meeting – March 2026
2026-03-13 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
Join Zoom

Free and open to the public but per our host’s policy, minors (under 18) are welcome to attend as long as they are accompanied by their parent or guardian at all times.
This meeting’s speaker will present inperson from the campus of the Chapman University.

The Milky Way’s Central Black Hole:

Lessons on accretion physics

Every large galaxy hosts a black hole at its center. These black holes’ feedback on their host galaxies shapes the evolution of galaxies and, ultimately, affects the Universe as a whole. The Milky Way’s own supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, is the closest such object and the only one that can be studied in unprecedented detail – down to individual orbiting stars, small infalling clouds, and even its event horizon. Yet, despite its proximity and decades of observations, its behavior remains among the most challenging to explain. This talk explores Sagittarius A*, its immediate surrounding, and the challenges of describing black hole accretion physics. Particular emphasis is placed on the recent discovery of a wind associated with Sagittarius A*. The talk will also address what our own black hole can teach us about supermassive black holes across the Universe.

Elena (Lena) Murchikova is an astrophysicist interested in black holes. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Northwestern University. Originally from Moscow, Lena holds two PhDs: one in astrophysics from Caltech and another in particle physics from Moscow State University. She completed her postdoctoral studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and at Harvard University’s Black Hole Initiative. Outside of research, Lena enjoys mountaineering and (drone) photography.
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General Meeting - April 2026
2026-04-10 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
Join Zoom

Free and open to the public but per our host’s policy, minors (under 18) are welcome to attend as long as they are accompanied by their parent or guardian at all times.
This meeting’s speaker will present online.

Supernovae, Dark Energy, and the

Mystery of the Accelerating Universe

Type Ia supernovae are brilliant explosions of white dwarf stars and are some of the most powerful tools for measuring the universe. By comparing how bright these supernovae appear to how bright they really are, astronomers can measure distances across billions of light-years. In the late 1990s, these measurements led to one of the most surprising discoveries in the history of science: the expansion of the universe is speeding up, driven by a mysterious phenomenon that was named dark energy.
In this talk, we will explore how supernova discoveries (including contributions from dedicated amateur astronomers) feed into modern cosmological measurements. Along the way, we’ll see how today’s observations are deepening the mystery of dark energy rather than closing the case. The accelerating universe remains one of the biggest puzzles in physics and supernovae are still lighting the way toward the answer.

David Rubin is an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. His research focuses on using exploding stars called Type Ia supernovae to measure the expansion history of the universe and understand the nature of dark energy. He works on survey design, calibration, and statistical methods for current and next-generation observatories, including the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
Dr. Rubin received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley working with Saul Perlmutter. He is still a member of the Supernova Cosmology Project and has authored or co-authored numerous publications on supernova cosmology and the accelerating universe.
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General Meeting - May 2026
2026-05-08 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
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Free and open to the public but per our host’s policy, minors (under 18) are welcome to attend as long as they are accompanied by their parent or guardian at all times.
This meeting’s speaker will present online.

Early galaxies and infant black holes

in the primeval Universe

Finding and understanding the nature of the first stars at cosmic dawn is one of the most important and most ambitious goals for modern astrophysics. The first populations of stars produced the first chemical elements heavier than helium and formed the first, small protogalaxies, which then evolved, across the cosmic epoch, into the large and mature galaxies, such as the Milky Way and those in our local neighbour. Equally important and equally challenging is the search, in the early Universe, of the seeds of the first population of black holes, which later evolved in the supermassive black holes at the centre of galaxies, with masses even exceeding a billion times the mass of the Sun. When matter accretes on such supermassive black holes it can become so luminous to vastly outshine the light emitted by all stars in their host galaxy.

Since its launch, about two years ago, the James Webb Space Telescope has been revolutionizing this area of research. Its sensitivity in detecting infrared light from the remotest parts of the Universe is orders of magnitude higher than any previous observatory, an historical leap in astronomy and, more broadly, in science. I will presents some of the extraordinary discoveries from the Webb telescope, which have resulted in several unexpected findings. I will also discuss the new puzzles and areas of investigation that have been opened by Webb’s observations, how these challenge theoretical models, and the prospects of further progress in the coming years.

Roberto Maiolino is Professor of Experimental Astrophysics in the Department of Physics and at the Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge. He is also an Honorary Professor at University College London and a Royal Society Research Professor.
He has served as Director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was knighted by the President of Italy in the Order of the Star of Italy and was awarded the Blaauw Honorary Professorship at the University of Groningen.
His research focuses on the formation of galaxies and black holes, using observations from some of the largest ground-based and space telescopes. He has played a leading role in several major projects, including the James Webb Space Telescope, the MOONS spectrograph for the Very Large Telescope, and the ANDES spectrograph for the Extremely Large Telescope.

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General Meeting - June 2026
2026-06-12 19:30 - 21:30 | Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University, 336 N Center St, Orange, CA, 92866, United States
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Tonight’s meeting will be online only.
Chapman University just notified us that we can not use their facility for tonight’s meeting.

The Big Eye: Palomar Observatory’s past and future

Palomar Observatory is just two hours from Orange County. Home to the 200-inch Hale telescope—once the world’s largest telescope—and an array of smaller facilities, it is one of the most productive astronomical research sites in the US. This talk will give an overview of Palomar’s development and rich history, and will discuss how creative ideas and evolving instrumentation help to keep the Observatory at the forefront of astronomical discovery as it nears its 100th birthday.

Geoffrey Mo is a Brinson Postdoctoral Fellow at the Carnegie Observatories and at Caltech. His main research interests are in the birth, evolution, and death of binary stars, particularly those involving white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. He uses large telescopes on the ground and in space to study these systems, which are responsible for many of the most energetic events in the universe. He is also interested in new astronomical instrumentation and is leading the development of a new high-speed imager for the 200-inch Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory. Geoffrey was an undergraduate at Carleton College and earned his PhD at MIT.

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General Meeting – July 2026
2026-07-10 19:30 - 21:30 | Online
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Free and open to the public.
This meeting will be online only, please do NOT go inperson.

Searching for Signs of Life

on Jupiter’s Ocean-Bearing Moons

Using NASA’s Europa Clipper mission as our guide, we’ll journey to Jupiter’s icy moons – worlds that may contain vast oceans beneath their frozen crusts. We will examine the evidence to support the possibility of finding life at this seemingly-unlikely locale in our Solar System. We will also discuss the motivation for the search for life beyond Earth, and the impact of the search on humanity.

Robin Metcalfe is an associate professor at York University in Toronto, where she has been teaching physics and astronomy for over 25 years. She is also the Director of York’s Division of Natural Science, which offers courses spanning a broad range of scientific fields and designed for diverse audiences from any academic discipline for the purpose of engaging students in topical scientific issues and instilling an appreciation for scientific exploration. Robin is also active in public outreach, giving Astronomy-themed talks to a variety of audiences, including astronomy clubs and other interest groups. Through her teaching and outreach, Robin shares her passion for the night sky and the outdoors. She teaches students to appreciate what the night sky has to teach us, to gain perspective from our place in the Universe, and to value our precious planet Earth.
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General Meeting – August 2026
2026-08-14 19:30 - 21:30 | Online
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Free and open to the public held online-only.

From Data to Discovery:

Communicating PACE Science to the World

NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission provides unprecedented insights into Earth’s interconnected ocean and atmospheric systems. But how do we transform complex scientific data into meaningful public understanding?
This presentation will introduce the PACE mission and explore strategies for communicating Earth science to diverse audiences. We’ll discuss the challenges of sharing complex ocean-atmosphere research, making data accessible to educators and students, and engaging communities in understanding their connection to global environmental systems.
This will show how PACE is not just observing our planet, but inspiring the next generation of Earth science enthusiasts and informed citizens.

Carina Poulin is a scientific designer at The Ocean Ecology Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, where she works at the intersection of Earth science, visualization, and communication. She has a scientific background in ocean color remote sensing and phytoplankton optics. Her work focuses on making complex satellite missions like PACE more accessible and meaningful to scientists, students, and the public.
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General Meeting – September 2026
2026-09-11 19:30 - 21:30 | Online
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Free and open to the public held online-only.

Sounds of the Stars:

Journey to the Center of a Star

What lies at the center of a star? A stellar core is surrounded by a million Earth’s worth of plasma, so we cannot see it directly. However, the immense power of a star’s radiation causes nearly all stars to pulsate, creating “star quakes” at their surfaces. These oscillations are a collection of musical notes that uniquely define each star and are determined by its internal structure, just as the sound of a musical instrument is determined by its size and shape. Join me for a cosmic symphony as we journey to the center of the Sun, Saturn, white dwarfs, red giants, and heartbeat stars.

Jim Fuller is a professor of theoretical astrophysics at the California Institute of Technology. His research covers a broad array of topics, ranging from Saturn’s moons to massive stars that explode as supernovae or collapse into black holes! Recently he has been studying the evolution of massive stars just before supernova, the neutron stars and black holes that they produce, asteroseismology and magnetic fields inside of red giants, pulsations of tidally distorted stars, the deep interior of Saturn as revealed by its rings, and the long-term orbital evolution of exoplanets and moons.

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