Sam Miller
The SaddleBrooke Skygazers Astronomy Club is pleased to host Thomas Fleming, Ph.D., a professor of practice at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory, on Sunday, Nov. 13, at the DesertView Theater, 39900 S. Clubhouse Drive, at 7 p.m. Dr. Fleming will discuss the 100-year history and objectives of the Steward Observatory as well as his function in the service of general astronomy education at Steward.
Dr. Fleming is a professor of practice and a research professor at Steward. His areas of research include X-ray emission from stars, the nearby stars, very low-mass stars, and white dwarfs. Since 1999, he has also been responsible for public outreach and coordination of the astronomy general education program at Steward Observatory. In this capacity, he also serves as organizer and host of the Steward Observatory Public Evening Lecture Series, the observatory’s major vehicle for disseminating information on astronomy and space science to the general public since 1922.
Dr. Fleming recently appeared as a scientific contributor in the Naked Science TV series episode “The Birth of the Earth” on the National Geographic channel, and in the PBS documentary Declining by Degrees: Higher Education at Risk.
The SaddleBrooke Skygazers Astronomy Club meets monthly (and typically) on the second Sunday evening at 7 p.m. at the DesertView Theater. The fall Star Parties are scheduled on Thursday, Oct. 27, at 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 26, at 6:30 p.m.; and Tuesday, Dec. 20, at 6:30 p.m. 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 David Evans at [email protected].