Previous Meetings (Reverse Chronology) with Guest Speakers and Topics
March 7th
Speaker:Dr. David Williams – Research Professor School of Earth and Space Exploration Arizona State University (present or remote TBD)
Speaker Bio:Dr. David A. Williams is a Research Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. Dr. Williams is the Director of the Ronald Greeley Center for Planetary Studies, the NASA Regional Planetary Image Facility at ASU. He is also the Director of the NASA Planetary Aeolian Laboratory at the Ames Research Center in California. David is currently performing research in volcanology and planetary geology, with a focus on planetary mapping, geochemical, and remote sensing studies. Currently David is funded and devotes most of his time in the role of Co-Investigator and Deputy Imager Lead for the NASA Psyche mission.
Topic/Title: Psyche: Journey to a Metal World
Talk summary: The Psyche mission is a journey to a unique metal-rich asteroid orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter. What makes the asteroid Psyche unique is that it appears to be the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet, one of the building blocks of our solar system. Psyche offers a unique window into the violent history of collisions and accretion that created terrestrial planets. The mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is responsible for mission management, operations and navigation.
It should be noted that due to software development and testing issues the mission missed its 2022 launch date and is being scheduled for sometime in 2023.
February 7th
Speaker: Dr. Steve Desch professor of astrophysics in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at ASU (in person)
Speaker Bio:Steve Desch is a professor of astrophysics in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at ASU. His research focuses on developing models of star and planet formation, using data from meteoritics and planetary science. He especially studies the origins of chondrules and meteorites. He also works in the fields of exoplanets and astrobiology and is Principal Investigator (PI) of the NASA-funded NExSS grant to study geochemical cycles on exoplanets to aid searches for signs of life on other planets. He has modeled small icy bodies to explore the likelihood of subsurface water on Pluto and its moon, Charon, the asteroid Ceres, and others. He has recently advocated the concept of Arctic Ice Management, to study how to increase sea ice in the Arctic in response to climate change. Asteroid 9926 Desch is named after him.
Topic/Title: “Omuamua extra solar system object”
Talk summary:The first confirmed object from another star to visit our solar system, this interstellar interloper appears to be a rocky, cigar-shaped object with a somewhat reddish hue. The object, named ‘Oumuamua by its discoverers, is up to one-quarter mile (400 meters) long and highly-elongated—perhaps 10 times as long as it is wide. That aspect ratio is greater than that of any asteroid or comet observed in our solar system to date. While its elongated shape is quite surprising, and unlike objects seen in our solar system, it may provide new clues into how other solar systems formed.
The observations suggest this unusual object had been wandering through the Milky Way, unattached to any star system, for hundreds of millions of years before its chance encounter with our star system.
“For decades we’ve theorized that such interstellar objects are out there, and now―for the first time―we have direct evidence they exist,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, in November 2017.
January 3rd
Speaker: Kevin Schindler Historian/PIO Lowell Observatory (in person)
Speaker Bio: Kevin Schindler is the historian and Public Information Officer at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, where he has worked for 27 years. He shares Lowell’s long history of research and exploration through writing and public presentations. He writes articles for a variety of publications and contributes a bi-weekly astronomy column, “View from Mars Hill”, for the Arizona Daily Sun newspaper. He has also written seven books.Fun fact: Schindler has both a fossil crab and asteroid named after him.
Topic/Title: Robert Burnham, Jr. and His Celestial Handbook
Talk summary: Robert Burnham, Jr. compiled one of the most popular astronomy books ever—the three-volume observing bible, Burnham’s Celestial Handbook—while working at Lowell Observatory in the mid-20th century. Yet Burnham’s life was enigmatic. In this program, Kevin Schindler will take a look at this complicated man who brought the wonders of space to people around the world. Schindler will also give an update on current happenings at Lowell Observatory.
December 6th Holiday party/meeting with speaker. (Members Only)
(Meet and Greet at 6:00pm, Meeting starts at 7:00pm, Speaker at 7:30pm)
- Officer Elections
- Out Reach Awards
- Auction Winners
Speaker: Dr. Danielle Adams Lowell Observatory via Zoom
Speaker Bio: Dr. Adams is responsible for leading the strategic marketing and branding efforts of Lowell Observatory. At Lowell Observatory, she continues to be active in astronomy education, speaking to various groups about Arabic cultural astronomy and the heritage of the many Arabic star names astronomers use today. She is also an associate member of the International Astronomical Union’s Working Group on star names. Where she lends her expertise on Arabian and Islamic astronomical traditions.well Observatory.
Topic/Title: “Arabian cultural astronomy and the heritage of Arabic star names”
November 1st
Speaker: Don Wrigley (from EVAC via ZOOM)
Speaker Bio: Don has been a serious lunar observer for nearly 60 years, a member of EVAC for 30 years, during which time he has given numerous talks to the various astronomy clubs throughout the valley with the intent of convincing some fellow amateurs that the moon is a worthwhile object for consideration.
Don grew up in southern New Hampshire and received a B.A. in Zoology from the University of New Hampshire. He moved to Arizona in 1986, and is now employed as a substitute teacher for the Mesa School District.
Topic/Title: Lunar Observation
Talk summary: The talk is basically a lunar tour, going from maria to maria (from sea to shining sea?) showing and describing the various points of interest, which includes objects of scientific interest, or objects which I just find to be aesthetically pleasing. I also include many objects which present observational challenges, due either to their small size or the special lighting conditions which must exist at the time of the observation. Most everything I show can be observed with a good 3” refractor.
October 4th
In-person speaker was a no show. Video presentation by the FERMILab titled Dark Matter in Seven Acts
September 6th
Date: 9/6/2022 September 6th
Speaker: Dr. Kelly Korreck (via Night Sky Network recording)
Speaker Bio: Dr. Kelly Korreck is a scientist in the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, where she works with a host of NASA missions and works on science activation and education. Over 20 years working with NASA missions at various institutions, her research has ranged from the Sun’s coronal mass ejections to the remnant shock waves from supernovae. Kelly has also been involved in building spaceflight hardware, worked on a sounding rocket, and, most recently, co-led an instrument suite onboard NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission.
Topic/Title: “What’s up with the Sun? Recent results from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe”
Talk summary: Dr. Korreck discusses the latest updates from the Parker Solar Probe. The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft was designed to solve 3 mysteries of the sun as well as the very practical goal of furthering our understanding of space weather. The talk will cover Parker’s measurements of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs- billions of tons of material hurling through space at millions of miles an hour – part of space weather), as well as recent Venus encounters and a few other surprises that Parker has discovered!
May 3rd 2022 WVAC Picnic at Beardsley Park in Sun City West AZ.
This is a Club Member + Guests event.
- 5:00pm Setup and Social hour
- 6:00pm Potluck Dinner
- 7:00pm General Meeting
April 5th 2022
Presenter: Dr. Hannes Bernhardt
Presentation: A Song of Ice and Fire: What Happened on Mars’ Oldest Large Volcanic Province.
Format: Dr. Bernhardt will present via ZOOM.
Dr. Bernhardt is a Postdoctoral Research Scholar at ASU. Dr. Bernhardt is a now a Postdoc at the Ronald Greeley Center for Solar System Studies at SESE/ASU, Hannes Bernhardt did his PhD in Muenster, Germany on the geomorphology of Hellas Planitia, Mars.
March 1st 2022
Presentation by Dr. Thomas Beatty
Dr. Beatty will speak on Exoplanets.
February 1st 2022
Presenter: Dr. Drew G. Keppel
Presentation: LIGO: Design and Destiny
Drew will give a brief overview of LIGO, discussing its design and purpose as well as exploring how it has contributed and will continue to contribute to our astronomical understanding of the universe
Format: Dr. Keppel will present in person with ZOOM to our remote attendees.
Drew spent eight years working as part of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC), where his work developing algorithms to detect gravitational wave signals from binary black holes and neutron stars contributed to the first and subsequent detections of gravitational waves.
He holds a Ph.D. in gravitational wave physics from Caltech and, as a member of the LSC, was a co-recipient of the 2016 Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
Drew currently works as a Senior Staff Firmware Systems Architect at Synaptics, Inc. and nerds out by reading science articles in his spare time.
January 4th 2022
Presenter: Alexandra Nachman
Presentation: Processing Images from the Hubble Space Telescope
Format: Alexandra will present in person with ZOOM to our remote attendees.
Alexandra Nachman has been involved with astronomy for five years. She has learned how to take images through the telescope with her camera, has joined an astronomy club, and processes images from the Hubble Space Telescope for fun. Due to her first year as a Solar System Ambassador, her knowledge of astronomy has grown immensely and she is more involved in this hobby than ever before. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the East Valley Astronomy Club.
Image source sites:
Hubble Legacy Archive: https://hla.stsci.edu/
MAST Portal: https://mast.stsci.edu/portal/Mashup/Clients/Mast/Portal.html
JunoCam Data: https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/processing#Welcome
Perseverance Data: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/
Site to obtain FITS Liberator:
FITS Liberator (convert FITS to TIFF): https://noirlab.edu/public/products/fitsliberator/
Link to Alex’s website with tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm9EUcllUGontbyH9XgyGLA/videos
Alex Nachman email: anachman510@gmail.com
December 7th 2021
This will be our annual Holiday business meeting with presentations by club members:
Amin Patani – Astrophotography of the Veil Nebula
Larry Matney – Will present his photos of the night sky and share his experience in Astrophotography
Cori Charles – As a NASA ambassador she will speak on few NASA missions and use of the NASA website.
Format: In person with ZOOM to our remote attendees.
November 4th 2021
Presenter: Dr. Gerard van Belle Lowell Observatory
Presentation: Present Research Capabilities and Future Plans
Format: Dr van Belle presentation will be via ZOOM to all attendees.
Dr. van Bell has been on the Lowell Observatory staff since 2011. He has worked on every major optical interferometer on the planet His pioneering stellar surface imaging work on the Palomar Testbed Interferometer won him the directors research award at JPL. He is now the chief scientist for the Navy Precision Optical Interferometer.
Dr. van Belle will talk of the current research being conducted at Lowell.
Dr van Belle’s essay on “Life as an Astronomer”
Click Here to open this meetings YouTube Channel
October 5th 2021
Presenter: Sam Smartt
Presentation: A pilot screening of the new documentary Luminous.
Format: Mr. Smartt will present via ZOOM to our in person audience and any remote attendees.
Join us for a pilot screening of the new documentary Luminous, directed by award-winning filmmaker, Sam Smartt (Wagonmasters), which chronicles the journey behind Calvin University astronomy professor Larry Molnar’s 2017 prediction of a Luminous red nova in the constellation of Cygnus. Q&A with Smartt to follow.
Astronomy professor Larry Molnar, working with a handful of undergraduate students remotely operating a 0.5 meter telescope in the desert of New Mexico, believes he can find the unfindable–a star that is about to explode. Luminous, a new documentary by award-winning filmmaker Sam Smartt (Wagonmasters) follows Larry and his students for five years as they make and test their unprecedented prediction.
September 7th 2021
Presenter: Dr. Molly Simon
Presentation: Citizen Science
Format: Dr. Simon will present via ZOOM to our in person audience and any remote attendees.
Dr. Simon is an Assistant Professor at ASU School of Earth and Science. Her presentation will introduce us to the topic of Citizen Science, show us how it works and the benefits from citizens being involved in major science endeavors.
May 4th, 2021 WVAC Picnic
April Presentation April 6th, 2021 7:00 p.m. Arizona time 6:00 p.m. Alaska DT
Lecture: How and Why We Make Color Composite Images at Professional Observatories
Lecturer: Dr. Travis Rector
Dr. Rector is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Alaska Anchorage. His research interests include Astronomy Education Research, Imagery and Visualization of Research Data, Young Stellar Objects in Star-forming Regions and Multi-wavelength Observational Techniques. He is also a gifted nature photographer who focuses on picturing the beauty of Alaska to share with others. Here is a link to a video that serves as an introduction to Dr. Rector’s photography passion.
March 2, 2021 7:00pm Discovery of the Dark Sky
Presenter: Luke Edens
Title: Discovery of the Dark Sky
Topic: Luke will share with the audience his experience on learning the night sky, mission of the International Dark-Sky Association, awareness about light pollution, basics of astrophotography and the astronomical resources available to the public within Arizona.
Luke Edens’s Bio: Luke works full time in healthcare and enjoys spending his free time exploring archaeological sites, viewing the night sky, hiking and kayaking the Southwest. He is a volunteer Arizona Site Steward for archaeological preservation and Vice President of the Friends of Agua Fria National Monument (FAFNM) where he volunteers as outreach coordinator and chairperson of their dark sky committee. He is also an active member of their cultural committee. Luke’s interest in archaeology has led him to look upward as he explores his favorite topic, archeoastronomy (cultural astronomy). Luke has organized several outreach events and night sky parties for the FAFNM.
Luke is also, the Vice President of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) Phoenix Area Chapter. He is an active member with IDA having attended the IDA 2019 annual meeting and conference. His goal is to preserve the natural night sky heritage and teach others about the effects of light pollution.
Zoom Meeting Recording: Here
The following links are related to Luke’s presentation
Valley 101 podcast on light pollution In Arizona
Badgers Springs Clear Sky Chart
February 2, 2021 7:00pm Presentation to WVAC
Presenter: Will Oldroyd
Will is a graduate student at NAU studying Astronomy and Planetary Science. He grew up in Provo, Utah and graduated from Brigham Young University in Physics and Astronomy with minors in Math, Geology, and Spanish. Will’s main research focuses on searching for a mysterious undiscovered giant planet—called Planet X—hidden in the distant outer solar system. Some of the most exciting parts of this research are using supercomputers to visualize how the planets are connected through gravity and using some of the biggest telescopes on Earth (or off of it) to discover new worlds. When he’s finished with school, Will plans on becoming a professor so he can continue studying the universe and share new discoveries with others. In his spare time, Will enjoys hiking and playing board games with his wife and son.
Presentation: “The Search for Planet X” We will discuss the history and current state of the hunt for a hidden world orbiting deep in the far reaches of our solar system.
January 5, 2021 Kitt Peak National Observatory Presentation
Presenter: Casey Good
Title: Kitt Peak National Observatory and Visitor Center in the 2020s:
Topic: Casey will provide a discussion of the major scientific endeavors of the observatory and the current and planned Visitor Center programs available to members of the public. Casey Good Bio: Casey Good is a public outreach specialist at Kitt Peak, where he developed astrophotography programs based on the needs of today’s hobbyist, having started out as one in his backyard. Casey has been recognized internationally for his work, having been awarded over 20 Astronomy Picture of the Day awards from NASA, Amateur APOD, Astrobin and others, and selected as one of Insight’s Astrophotographer of the year in 2019. In “real life” Casey is the Chief Financial Officer of a hospital in Tucson.
Kitt Peak Visitor Center- Experience Your Universe (visitkittpeak.org)
Zoom Meeting Recording: Here
December 1, 2020 Club Member Presentations and Business Meeting
The December meeting will be both physical and virtual; per church guidelines only 25 members will be permitted to attend the physical meeting. Please request to be added to the list by sending an email to wvacstars@gmail.com
The December program will consist of presentations from club members.
Title: Amateur Spectroscopy
Presenter: Bruce Barron
Bruce will talk about his experience doing spectroscopy from his back yard. He
has measured the spectrum of over 2500 stars. Based on his experience he will
be a great resource for club members interested in this type of astronomy.
Title: Astronomy Planning using Telescopius
Presenter: Bob Colvert (Time Permitting)
Telescopius is a free to use website with a lot of useful features for planning a
viewing session. Bob will do a walk through of the Telescopius website and
demonstrate the most useful features for creating a viewing plan.
Following the members presentation there will be a club business meeting and the announcement of election results for club officers.
November 5th, 2020 (Thursday Meeting due to the election) General Meeting
Guest Speaker: Dr. Patrick A Young
Presentation Topic: ” Supernova: Life and Death Among the Stars“
Dr. Young is an astrophysicist and astrobiologist who simulates stellar evolution, supernovae, and the synthesis of elements. He also studies planetary habitability and target selection for future life-detection missions.
Assoc. Prof. Patrick A. Young 
Associate Director, Community Outreach
Associate Director, Inclusive Community
School of Earth and Space Exploration
Arizona State University
To watch a video recording of the meeting click (here)
October 6th 2020 At this time we’re not sure if we’ll have an actual physical meeting or a virtual meeting. In either case the speaker for October will be presenting his presentation virtually.
Guest Speaker: Tom Field, President Field Tested Systems LLC 
Contributing Editor, Sky & Telescope Magazine
Astronomical Spectra: www.rspec-astro.com
Classroom Spectra: www.fieldtestedsystems.com
A live Q&A after the 45 minute presentation.
Topic: “You can almost touch the stars”
Even if you wanted to touch a star, they’re all impossibly distant. Despite these great distances, astronomers have learned an enormous amount about stars. How? The most common method to study the stars is called spectroscopy, which is the science of analyzing the colorful rainbow spectrum produced by a prism-like device.
Until recently, spectroscopy was too expensive and too complicated for all but a handful of amateurs. Today, though, new tools make spectroscopy accessible to almost all of us. You no longer need a PhD, dark skies, long exposures, enormous aperture … or a big budget! With your current telescope and FITS camera (or a simple web cam or even a DSLR without a telescope) you can now easily study the stars yourself. Wouldn’t you like to detect the atmosphere on Neptune or the red shift of a quasar right from your own backyard?!
This talk, with lots of interesting examples, will show you what it’s all about and help you understand how spectroscopy is used in research. Even if you are an armchair astronomer, understanding this field will enhance your understanding of the things your read and the night sky.
Speaker Bio: Tom Field is has been a Contributing Editor at Sky & Telescope Magazine for the past 7 years. He is the author of the RSpec software (www.rspec-astro.com) which received the S&T “Hot Product” award in 2011.
Tom is a popular speaker who has spoken to hundreds of clubs via the web at many conferences, including NEAF, the NEAF Imaging Conference, PATS,
the Winter Star Party, the Advanced Imaging Conference, SCAE, and others. His enthusiastic style is lively and engaging. He promises to open the door
for you to this fascinating field!
September 1st, 2020 – Program – Mr. James Renn will make our September presentation 
entitled “The Vatican Observatory and the Big Bang”.
Mr Renn is a member of the Vatican Observatory Foundation Board of Directors, and is also on staff at the Walker Star Barn Planetarium in Cave Creek. He gives presentations on astronomical topics for both venues.
The presentation begins with a short history of the legacy of the Vatican Observatory, which dates to 1582. It identifys notable members connected to the Observatory, beginning with Christopher Clavius and the 1582 calendar reform, The talk refers to the trial of Galileo as an example of conflict between faith and science, and mentions Angelo Secchi, a founding father of astrophysics. The lecture then discusses Fr. George LeMaitre, who used Einsteins equations to propose a theory of the origin of the Universe we now call “The Big Bang”. This is followed by a short overview of the present state of the Universe and how how the name “Big Bang” was coined by Professor Fred Hoyle in 1949. Finally, the presenter discusses philosophical concepts that personal at the Vatican encounter when they discuss the evolution of the Universe.
August 4th 2020 Virtual Meeting 6:00 pm Arizona time or 6:00 pm PDT
Speaker: Dr. Rosaly M. C. Lopes
Title: “Volcanism in the Solar System”
Dr. Rosaly M. C. Lopes is a Senior Research Scientist at JPL and Editor-in-Chief of the planetary journal Icarus. She obtained a B.Sc. in astronomy and Ph.D. in planetary science from University College London, UK. Her research expertise is on planetary geology and volcanology and she has studied Mars, Io, and Titan. She was a member of Galileo’s Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer team from 1991-2003 and of the Cassini Titan Radar Mapper (2003-2019). She is the PI of the NASA Astrobiology Institute project “Habitability of Hydrocarbon Worlds: Titan and Beyond”. She is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Geological Society of America, and the American Geophysical Union. She has received several awards including the Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical Society, the Ambassador Award from the American Geophysical Union, and two NASA Exceptional Public Service Medals. Her discovery of 71 active volcanoes on Io led to her being included in the 2006 Guinness Book of World records as the discoverer of the most active volcanoes anywhere.
July 7th Members Only Workshop (ZOOM): John Cline has been busy organizing our clubs records and has put together a very interesting presentation of our clubs history since 1986. Members please check your email for detail meeting information. If you cannot find your emails please contact us at: wvacstars@gmail.com
March 3rd, 2020 – Tentative Program – Guest Speaker – Dr. Melissa A.
Morris a Senior Support Scientist with ASRC Federal and NASA. Topic: Dr. Morris will provide an update on the OSIRIS REx Mission. Description: OSIRIS Rex seeks answers to the questions that are central to the human experience: Where did we come from? What is our destiny? Asteroids, the left over debris from the solar system formation process, can answer these questions and teach us about the history of the sun and planets. OSIRIS REx will journey to the asteroid Bennu, map it and gather a physical sample and return the sample to earth.
February 4th, 2020 – Program – Our guest speaker is Dr. Thomas Mozdzen (Assistant Research Scientist at ASU and Vice President of East Valley Astronomy Club).
His topic is “Recent efforts at ASU to find evidence of when the first stars formed”. What were those first stars like and when did they form? How did they affect the rest of the universe? Dr Mozdzen will discuss how a new research tool named EDGES will help describe the creation of galaxies, the strength of the X rays from their central black holes, and the interaction with the cold clouds of primordial hydrogen.
January 7th, 2020 – Program – Guest Speaker – Dr. David Williams from ASU
The talk title is: “Exploring Ocean Worlds”
Description: This talk will discuss the evidence for ‘ocean worlds… worlds in our Solar System beyond Earth that appear to have liquid water oceans in their interiors. What do we know about them? What do they imply for exoplanets, and life elsewhere in the Universe? Join Professor David Williams of ASU’s School of Earth & Space Exploration for all the latest on these enigmatic worlds!
December 3rd, 2019 – WVAC Club Holiday and Business meeting. For more information (Click here).
November 7th, 2019 (Thursday)
Guest Speaker –Dr. Rogier A. Windhorst from ASU; His
talk is titled: “New Telescopes that will Expand Hubble’s Frontier”.
Dr. Windhorst is an astronomer and a professor of physics and astronomy at Arizona State University and formally presided over The School of Earth and Space Exploration. His research lies in astronomy, cosmology, galaxy formation and evolution. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, his group at ASU has contributed significantly to unraveling the formation and evolution of distant galaxies. His research has led to new understandings of how the universe first began. He also studies black holes and he is the principal investigator of the Hubble Space Telescope mid-UV bright galaxy survey.
(2019-10-1) – “Radio Astronomy”. 
Guest Speaker – Dr. Alex Vrenios. Topic – “Radio Astronomy” – Dr. Vrenios is a retired computer scientist who specialized in the design and development of distributed computing systems. He has dozens of technical presentations and publications to his credit, including a book on Linux clusters. His other interests include astronomy, photography and amateur radio. The program begins with a brief history of Radio Astronomy, and then discusses the subjects of Solar Energy, Jupiter’s Radio Storms, Meteor Scatter Communications, Galactic Radio Sources and finally… how to create radio images.
Dr. Vrenios provided several links pertaining to his presentation as well as his PowerPoint presentation. They can be found here: Conference Paper, Radio Sky Article, and Amateur Radio Astronomy.
(2019-04-02) “Updates from the Surface of Mars”– Dr. Steve Ruff – ASU School of Earth & Space Exploration
Steve Ruff is a planetary geologist with a focus on the mineralogy of Mars determined via infrared spectroscopy.
Dr. Ruff discussed recent happenings at the surface of Mars concerning rovers and landers and take a look to the future of Mars exploration. Dr Ruff also reported on the final months of the Opportunity rover’s nearly 15 year mission; the recent activities of the Curiosity rover; the new Insight lander mission; and the upcoming Mars 2020 rover mission.
(2019-03-05) “New Horizon Mission Update” Speaker – Dr. Will Grundy 
Dr. Grundy is from Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ. Dr. Grundy is a co-investigator on NASA’s New Horizon Mission which did the Pluto fly-by and just arrived at Ultima Thule (dumbbell looking asteroid) in the Outer asteroid belt on New Years day 2019. Grundy does spectroscopic, thermal, and imaging observations of outer Solar System bodies using numerous large ground- and space-based telescopes including Hubble, Spitzer, Herschel, Keck, Gemini, VLT, DCT, IRTF, and MMT.
(2019-02-05) “Celestial (Stellar) Navigation” Speaker – Allen Edwards
Member/Speaker Allen Edwards spoke on the continuing use of stellar
navigation as applied to Space Navigation – A variation on terrestrial celestial navigation was used to help orient the Apollo spacecraft en route to and from the Moon. To this day, space missions such as the Mars Exploration Rover use star trackers to determine the attitude of the spacecraft. Allen presented an INS unit and Sextant for show and tell experience. About the speaker – Club member Allen has a BSEE degree from Univ. of Illionois and a MBA from the Univ. ofPhoenix. He is president of the StellarNav LLC.
(2019-01-02) “Digital SLR Astrophotography” Speaker – Ryan Morrell
Speaker/member Ryan Morrell has collected state-of-the-art 
DSLR astronomy images from undisclosed desert viewing locations. Ryan resorted to unconventional means to obtain his astonishing photographs. Ryan showed his images as well as discussing his technique and equipment.
(2018-11-07) “Edited Netflix video clip (Edge of the Universe)” 
Scientist now see back to just 1/2 million years after the Big Bang. We now have amazing updated concepts about it’s size , shape and ultimate fate.
(2018-10-03) “Asteroids, Ion Propulsion, NASA’s Dawn Mission to Vesta & Ceres”
Speaker: Dr. David Williams – ASU
(2018-04-03) “The Splendors of the Universe with Visual Astronomy” – Speaker: Dr. Paul Knauth
The talk surveys astronomical marvels that can actually be seen with the human eye and discuss how today’s colorful digital images inadvertently distort our human understanding and appreciation of the cosmos.
(2018-03-06) “My work with the Rovers on Mars” Speaker: Dr. Tanya Harrison
Dr. Harrison works on commercial-academic space partnerships and Martian 
geomorphology research at Arizona State University. She has been deeply involved with all of the Rovers that we have on Mars. Dr. Harrison wrote an article in the July 2017 Astronomy magazine about water on Mars. Her talk is primarily about water – past and present – on Mars.
(2018-02-06) “CCD Photometry from Inside the Light Dome” Speaker – Retired engineer Tom Polakis
Tom is a Contributing Editor for Astronomy Magazine. He has written many stories about the hobby and the profession. Tom has actively pursued photometry with his CCD imaging Equipment in Tempe. During that time, he has determined rotation periods of asteroids, measured brightness and colors of eclipsing binary and pulsating variable stars and created light curves of exoplanets.
(2018-01-02) “Space Physiology” Speaker – Michelle Turner
Our speaker was Michelle Turner, a world traveled expert in the field of human locomotion. Ms. Turner spoke on space physiology based on the Theory of Opposition to Gravity and Locomotion, a paper she presented at the International Conference of Movement and Cognition at the University of Oxford in July 2017. The theory has implications for humans in long term space flight such as in NASA’s upcoming Mars mission.
(2017-11-07) “Are We Alone in the Universe” Speaker – Dr. Laird Close
Dr. Laird Close is an award winning Professor of Astronomy and 
Astrophysics at The University of Arizona. Dr. Close is the principal scientist of the 6.5m Magellan Adaptive Optics extrasolar planet imager, located in the high Atacama Desert of Chile. He has developed a course available in the “The Great Courses” series entitled “Are We Alone in the Universe” and this will be the theme of his presentation.
(2017-10-13) “An Immigrant’s Journey to the Cosmos” Speaker – Dr. Misconi
Some of Dr. Misconi’s Interests: The Zodiacal light, Interplanetary dust dynamics, Comets and Asteroids colliding with the Earth, Conversations with Buz Aldrin and others, Space science in Florida, Global warming views.
(2017-04-04) “Probe of Earth-Trojan Asteroid – Bennu” Speaker – Carl Hergenrother
Carl Hergenrother has discovered multiple asteroids and minor planets and is on the OSIRIS-Rex asteroid investigation team .
The mission, launched in 2016, will study asteroid 101955 Bennu by scooping up and returning it’s pristine material* back to earth for important scientific study. (*remanents that built the earth) Coincidentally asteroid Bennu also occupies a dangereous near-earth orbit! If successful, OSIRIS-REx will be the first US spacecraft to return samples from an asteroid.
(2017-03-07) “Ninth planet in our solar system” Speaker – Kat Volk
There is intriguing evidence for a ninth planet in our solar system says Kat Volk, a post-doctoral researcher in the UA Department of Planetary on this project. If planet nine were to exist, it would have a huge impact on the study of the solar system. The planet is thought to be about 20 times further from Earth than Neptune, the farthest large planet we now know of. The Hypothetical planet would have an orbital period of 665 AU, then the most distant objects would be in simple mean motion resonances with it, Volk said.
(2017-02-07) “Cannibal Galaxies” Speaker – Dr. West
Dr. West is the Deputy Director for Science at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. 
His research interests include star clusters, galaxy formation and evolution, clusters of galaxies, and the large-scale structure of the universe. He has been Principal Investigator for six Hubble Space Telescope projects to date, and has been awarded time on other major telescopes around the world.
(2016-11-29) “NASA’s Amazing Dawn Mission” Speaker – Dr. Steve Desch
The Dawn satellite is a magnificent scientific achievement. The Dawn
mission was launched in September 2007 and has a unique propulsion system using ion thrusters capable of speeds of up to 200,000 MPH. It took the Dawn satellite four years to travel to the main asteroid belt which lies between Mars and Jupiter in our solar system. NASA’s daunting Mission data analysis is ongoing. Dr. Desch will also be showing the latest lifelike computer models of the dwarf planet Ceres.
(2016-10-25) “Primitive Asteroids” Speaker – Dr. Driss Takir.
Dr. Takir is a planetary scientist with the USGS Astrogeology Science 
Center in Flagstaff, Az. And is a leading scientist in the research of Outer Main Belt asteroids. He uses telescopic spectroscopic observations of water and carbon rich asteroids of our early solar system to determine the evolution of the many diverse solar systems found in the universe. In his talk he will discuss the implications of his work in linking primitive asteroid samples data returned from two different asteroids. Additionally, finding asteroids on a collision path with the earth will be discussed.
(2016-09-27) “Nano Satellite program on the Moon” Speaker – Dr. Craig Hargrove
Our speaker will be Dr. Craig Hardgrove, from ASU. Dr. Hardgrove is the principal investigator for the LunaH-Map program. His team is developing a small CubeSat satellite used to map the distribution of hydrogen on the moon. These miniaturized satellites, known as nanosatellites or CubeSats, can fit in the palm of your hand. The mission goal will be mapping hydrogen distributions in permanently shadowed regions of the moon’s south pole to better understand planetary development in our solar system.
(2016-04-05) “Astrophotography – My Pictures and Techniques” Speaker – Tom Conner
Consummate Astrophotographer, Tom Conner, will present a selection of his best
photos obtained over the last nine years. The photos were taken from various locations in the Sonoran Desert of Southwest Arizona and in Plain Township, Ohio.Tom’s photos were obtained using optical aids ranging from SLR-type camera lenses up to large permanently mounted telescopes. Tom has lectured on astrophotography and his pictures have been on public display in various venues in Ohio in past years.
(2016-03-01) “NASA’s New Horizon’s Mission to Pluto and Beyond” Speaker – Dr. David Williams
Dr. David Williams will present on the topic “NASA’s New Horizon’s Mission to Pluto
and Beyond”. He is an associate research professor in ASU’s School of Earth & Space Exploration. His research has included computer modeling of seismic wave propagation through planetary interiors, visible and near-infrared spectroscopy of the lunar surface, planetary geologic mapping of the satellites of Jupiter and the planet Mars, computer modeling of the physical and geochemical evolution of lava flows in a variety of planetary environments, and petrologic study of lava samples from Mount St Helens. He was involved with NASA’s Magellan Mission to Venus and Galileo Mission to Jupiter. He is a Co-Investigator on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter mission, and he was a Participating Scientist on NASA’s Dawn Mission to asteroid Vesta. David is a Past Chair of the Planetary Geology Division of the Geological Society of America, has served on several NASA committees including the 2007 Jovian System Observer Science Definition Team, and was a steering committee member of the NASA Outer Planets Advisory Group. He is currently performing research in volcanology and planetary geology, with a focus on planetary mapping, geochemical, and remote sensing studies. The title of his talk will be, “NASA’s New Horizons Mission to Pluto and Beyond”. He will be discussing the planetary rovers and the planets that we’ve explored with them, from the Moon to Mars, with a look ahead to future missions to moons of the outer planets and the latest results from the Mars Curiosity rover. In July 2015 NASA completed the initial reconnaissance of the Solar System with a flyby of dwarf planet Pluto. What did they discover? Join Professor David Williams of ASU’s School of Earth & Space Exploration on a journey to the edge of the Solar System, and see the wonders of Pluto revealed!
(2016-02-02) “Mars Mission Update” Speaker – Dr. Steve Ruff
Dr. Steve Ruff will present the WVAC February program on the topic “Mars Mission Update”.
Steve is a planetary geologist with a focus on the mineralogy of Mars determined via infrared spectroscopy, part of an effort to understand its geologic history and potential for past habitability.
Terrestrial field work and lab studies are an integral part of this effort, providing an empirical basis for interpreting data from orbital spacecraft and rovers.
He has been an active member in several Mars missions and a participant in the planning of future missions.
(2015-10-27) “Update – New Horizons mission” Speaker – Dr. Will Grundy
Dr. Grundy is astronomer at Lowell Observatory. Will is a co-investigator on NASA’s New Horizons mission which recently encountered the Pluto system. He heads the mission’s surface composition science theme team. Will’s talk will present the latest results from the amazingly revealing New Horizons mission and will discuss what hypotheses are emerging to explain some of the puzzling features that have been discovered. NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew through the Pluto system in July 2015, collecting a treasure trove of color and panchromatic images, infrared and ultraviolet spectra, and measurements of the local particle environment. Data from the encounter are still being transmitted back to Earth. The downlink will continue until well into 2016, but scientists have been amazed by the data already received. Pluto is far from a dead world. Its volatile ices interact with the atmosphere on seasonal timescales, creating a fascinating and mysterious diversity of landforms. Likewise, Charon is revealed to have far more complicated geology than the inert, cratered sphere some had expected. Even the small moons have interesting stories to tell.
(2015-03-03) “Evolution of Planetary Systems” Speaker – Sarah Morrison
Sarah Morrison is a PhD candidate in Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona’a Lunar and Planetary Laboratory studying the evolution of planetary systems using orbital dynamics. She received her B.A. in Astronomy from Cornell University calibrating cameras on the Mars Exploration Rovers and exploring the moons of Saturn during the Cassini mission. She currently enjoys observing the often clear Southwestern skies while pondering perplexing planetary puzzles.
Title: Exoplanets Abstract: Join University of Arizona Planetary Science PhD candidate Sarah Morrison as she describes her work studying exoplanets. Summary: Within the last 10 years, we now have much more context for our Solar System with the discovery and characterization of thousands of exoplanet systems. To date, however, most of these systems provide insight mainly for the inner planets since they sample planets that orbit close to their host stars. I will discuss cutting-edge efforts to start looking for outer exoplanets using direct imaging campaigns, as well as through indirect evidence in debris disks and current transit/radial velocity surveys and what these findings mean for our understanding of our own Solar System.
(2014-11-25) “A Smashed Up Universe” Speaker – Dr. Paul Knauth of ASU
Title: A Smashed-up Universe – Abstract: The actual history of nature has clearly been astoundingly chaotic. Collisions at all scales are the dominant process shaping what we see. Examples abound and include why no two galaxies look exactly alike, why the solar system looks the way it does, why Mars is fooling us into thinking it had a warm, wet early history, why we are never going permanently into space, and possibly why we are here instead of dinosaurs. Search for the orderly progression of history if you like, but what we see is a smashed-up universe. Come to Dr. Knauth’s presentation and after reviewing it all, you may want to drive more carefully on the way home.
(2014-10-28) “A New World of Possibilities” Speaker – Jim Ray
Richard and Jim Ray are the first astronomers to ever obtain speckle interferometry images of binary stars using a heliostat (solar) telescope. They will explain what they did and how they did it, as well as the science behind speckle interferometry, e.g., how speckle interferometry lets a telescope easily observe at its resolution limit (not the seeing limit imposed by bad air).
(2014-09-30) “The Clark Telescope Renovation Project” Speaker – Kevin Schindler
Kevin Schindler of Lowell Observatory will be our speaker for the September 30 WVAC Meeting. The topic will be the Clark Telescope Renovation Project which he is heading up. He will share the latest information and show pictures of the project work. The Web has a great run-down and video link of Kevin’s project at: Lowell Restoration
(2014-04-01) “Roving the Solar System” Speaker – Dr. David Williams
Dr. David Williams is an associate research professor in ASU’s School of Earth & Space Exploration. His research has included computer modeling of seismic wave propagation through planetary interiors, visible and near-infrared spectroscopy of the lunar surface, planetary geologic mapping of the satellites of Jupiter and the planet Mars, computer modeling of the physical and geochemical evolution of lava flows in a variety of planetary environments, and petrologic study of lava samples from Mount St Helens. He was involved with NASA’s Magellan Mission to Venus and Galileo Mission to Jupiter. He is a Co-Investigator on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter mission, and he was a Participating Scientist on NASA’s Dawn Mission to asteroid Vesta. David is a Past Chair of the Planetary Geology Division of the Geological Society of America, has served on several NASA committees including the 2007 Jovian System Observer Science Definition Team, and was a steering committee member of the NASA Outer Planets Advisory Group. He is currently performing research in volcanology and planetary geology, with a focus on planetary mapping, geochemical, and remote sensing studies.
The title of his talk will be, “Roving the Solar System.” He will be discussing the planetary rovers and the planets that we’ve explored with them, from the Moon to Mars, with a look ahead to future missions to moons of the outer planets and the latest results from the Mars Curiosity rover.
(2014-03-04) “The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence in the 21st Century: Moving Beyond Radio Astronomy?” Speaker – Sara Walker.
Sara Imari Walker is an Assistant Professor in the school of Earth and Space Exploration and the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science at Arizona State University. She is a theoretical physicist and astrobiologist and received her PhD in Physics from Dartmouth College and has held postdoctoral appointments in the Center for Chemical Evolution at the Georgia Institute of Technology and as a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow. Her research focuses on the emergence of life, but she is broadly interested in topics as diverse as the structure of information hierarchies in biological systems, astrobiological searches for life elsewhere in the cosmos, the dynamics underlying major evolutionary transitions, cancer biology, quantum mechanics and space exploration. Her topic will be, “The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence in the 21st Century: Moving Beyond Radio Astronomy?”.
(2014-02-04) “Recent Progress at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT)”
Our Club Trip: A few years ago our WVAC club made a fascinating trip up 11,000 ft. Mt. Graham to the Large Binocular Telescope. At that time only one mirror was up and running. Now both are operating. The combined 27 ft. diameters of each of the mirrors make this one of the most powerful telescopes yet devised and bettering the Hubble!
Our Speaker: The Chief Instrumentation Scientist on the job and in charge of all the complicated equipment is Dr. R Mark Wagner and he has agreed to speak at our February 4 meeting. The title of his talk is “Recent Progress at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT)”.
(2013-09-24) “Mars Rovers” Speaker – Dr. Steve Ruff.
Dr. Steve Ruff was our kick-off speaker at our September 24 meeting. His presentation was titled: “Mars Rovers: Where are they now?” Dr. Ruff is a Mars researcher at ASU in the School of Earth and Space Exploration’s Mars Space Flight Facility and has spoken at the WVAC on numerous occasions over the years. Currently, Dr. Ruff is actively involved in Mars exploration and is an associate team member of the Mars Rover Opportunity. We will hear about recent exciting discoveries by the Rover Vehicles along with high definition pictures taken on Mars using the Rover cameras.
(2013-10-29) “Wonders of the Night Sky” Speaker – Dr. Tim Hunter
Dr. Tim Hunter was guest speaker at our October 29 Meeting. Among his many other notable achievements, he is the president and co-founder of the International Dark-Sky Association. His talk included a discussion and photographs of wonders of the night sky and the preservation of our heritage of dark skies.
(2013-11-26) “Seeing Double: The Joy of Double Stars” Speaker – Richard Harshaw.
The speaker for our last meeting of the year, Nov. 26, was Richard Harshaw. The title of his presentation was “Seeing Double: the Joy of Double Stars”. As you may have guessed his specialty is double stars.
Bio: He has had several articles on double stars published in journals and has published a book with Springer Publishing, the Complete CD Guide To The Universe. He has also contributed about 2,000 measurements of double stars to the Washington Double Star Catalog (his observer code is HSW). He is also the co-author of 16 binary star orbits (with William Hartkopf).