Randy Greene
We are fortunate to have world famous, award winning astrophotographer Adam Block as our speaker at our October Skygazers meeting on Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Desert View auditorium. The title of his presentation is Exotic Astrophotography, Capturing the Exotic. He will discuss his work photographing the Pulsar Bow Shock, the jet in the Trifid, the Quasar (33C273), the Zeta Ophiuchi, and the RasCapBio.
In 1991 Block moved to Tucson, where he still lives, to attend then University of Arizona, where he earned a BS in Astronomy and Physics in1996. After graduation he worked for the public outreach program at Kitt Peak, and in 2007 he founded the Mount Lemon SkyCenter. From 2016 on, Block has worked doing research at the Steward Observatory, currently focusing on characterizing the night sky space domain awareness.
From a young age, Block has been an avid astrophotographer. His images have appeared in Astronomy Magazine, Sky and Telescope, National Geographic, Scientific American and L’Astronomie. Block’s images have appeared over 100 times as NASA’s Picture of the Day. Block has received numerous awards for his work and his images have been the basis of much astronomical research.
More information can be found in adamblockstudios.com and adamblockphotos.com.
When Block is not photographing the night sky, he is a serious, competitive table tennis player.
Skygazers is the SaddleBrooke astronomy club, whose members include former retired professional astronomers to laymen with a general interest in astronomy. Every month from October through April at 7 p.m. on Sunday in the Desert View theater we have a meeting which features a professional astronomer or related field, often from the University of Arizona, one of the top research astronomy departments in the world. In the past we have had Marcie Rieke, who developed the cameras for the James Webb Telescope, and Dante Lauretta, the principal investigator of the Osiris-X project. Meetings are open to residents and their guests. Membership dues are $10 a year.
The club also sponsors monthly star parties at the soft ball playing field, where members bring telescopes for all to enjoy. Richard Spitzer, our star party coordinator, discusses the highlights in the night sky of what is visible that month at our monthly meeting. Upcoming star parties are Oct. 1, Nov. 4, and Dec. 8. More information about the club can be found on our website, sbazsky.xakt.me.