Club Calendar

Speaker: Tom Polakis

Topic: Astroimages: More Than Just Pretty Pictures

Description: Astronomical imaging has made great strides in the past decade alone. Often, the emphasis is placed on the sharpness of stars and the trueness of colors. But is that all there is to see? In his presentation, Tom will dig deeper into his images and videos to show such features as the influence of the earth’s atmosphere, effects of geometry and perspective, and distances and velocities, typically using no more than high school-level math. Pictures really are worth a thousand words.

Bio: Tom Polakis has been an active amateur astronomer for 45 years, during which has seen Saturn circle the sun 1 1/2 times. His main interests involve visual observing of all astronomical phenomena, and imaging of the same with equipment ranging from a phone to a backyard observatory. He has a particular interest in describing the universe as an ever-changing entity. His writing and photography have regularly appeared in magazines such as “Astronomy” and “Sky & Telescope,” and more recently has been an author or co-author in refereed astronomical publications.