December Skygazers Program

Program Note: This Skygazers Program meeting is on Saturday evening as opposed to the normal Sunday evening.

On Saturday, December 7, the SaddleBrooke Skygazers Astronomy Club will present Dr. Erika Hamden, a Professor of Astrophysics and Director of the University of Arizona Space Institute. The program presentation will be held at the DesertView Theater, located at 39900 S. Clubhouse Drive at 7 p.m. Prof. Hamden’s research focus is on Extragalactic Astronomy, Infrared and Ultraviolet Astronomy and Instrumentation and Detectors. At this program meeting, she will speak about her work in Extragalactic Ultraviolet Astronomy.

Learn about this important, but understudied wavelength, the Ultraviolet. While on Earth, UV light gives you a sunburn, in space, it reveals the inner workings of galaxies, traces signatures of star birth and death, and provides insight into magnetic fields and atmospheric composition of extra-solar planets. Prof. Hamden talks about her own work in this wavelength range building new telescopes.

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Dr. Erika Hamden is a professor of astrophysics at the University of Arizona, and Director of the University of Arizona Space Institute. She specializes in building telescopes and developing technology to make telescopes better. Dr. Hamden graduated from Harvard in 2006, earned a PhD from Columbia University in 2014, and spent four years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the California Institute of Technology. Prof. Hamden is a TED Fellow, an AAAS IF/Then Ambassador, and has won numerous awards from NASA for her work in ultraviolet astronomy. She also hosts a TV show on AZPM and is a science social media influencer. In her free time, she cooks, has a serious yoga practice and loves hiking around Tucson.

The SaddleBrooke Skygazers Astronomy Club meets monthly (and typically) on the second Sunday evening (at 7 p.m.) in the DesertView Theater. The winter star parties are scheduled on Wednesday December 18, Wednesday, January 15 and Thursday, February 20 at the Softball Field parking lot. The public is welcome to both meetings and star parties. Club and Star Party information can be obtained by emailing Sam Miller at twoyosemite@gmail.com.