What we’re about
Welcome to SJ Astronomy Meetup. We are an active group with a lot of events organized by the San Jose Astronomical Association. All events posted to this Meetup are open to the public but please note that joining this meetup does not automatically make you a member of SJAA. Becoming a formal member of SJAA provides members-only benefits, so we do encourage you to join. Please check out the membership benefits at https://www.sjaa.net/membership/benefits-of-membership-2/ to learn more and to join the club.
Also, please note that we need a profile picture for security reasons to join this group. Please consider uploading one before you send a request to join the group. Looking forward to sharing this cool hobby with all of you!
Upcoming events
32
•OnlineAstro 101: All About Binoculars -- ON LINE
OnlineNeed something to explore the night sky? While telescopes are the quintessential astronomy tool, binoculars are a great way to learn what's where and find beauty up above. Join us to learn about binoculars and make your entry into astronomy a more successful one!
This event is one of several different introductions to astronomy offered by SJAA. Complementing the Telescope Primer, this presentation focuses specifically on binoculars as excellent observing tools. Not only may you already have some binoculars hiding in a closet or purchase good ones for less than a telescope, but you can also build them yourself!
We'll take the first 15 minutes to give a short tour of the night sky using the planetarium software Stellarium. The talk will start at 7:15.
Your presenter is Carl Svensson. Carl is not a professional astronomer, but an avid star-gazer and astrophotographer. He joined SJAA in 2017 after receiving his first telescope (a Celestron NexStar 8SE) as a birthday gift from his wife. Since, then he's been involved with various volunteer astronomy events with SJAA, including Starry Nights and solar observing. You can see some of his astrophotos here: https://www.astrobin.com/users/csvensson/
Many of SJAA’s events, like this one, are public and free to attend, but if you’re enjoying what SJAA has to offer, consider becoming a paid member for only $20 per year: https://www.sjaa.net/membership/benefits-of-membership-2/
This event is an on-line Zoom event, complementing our in-person events in Houge Park.
(Image: Milky Way, without binocular overlay, by Terrence Dickinson, https://esahubble.org/images/opo9930e/)27 attendees
Building a DIY optical path towards the universe
Houge Park , 3972 Twilight Dr, San Jose, CA, USCome join us for our monthly Astronomy talk!
7:30pm-8pm: Social time with snacks
8pm: Talk begin
Title: Building a DIY optical path towards the universe
Description: The field of optics was born from the curiosity of early astronomers, whose pioneering work laid the foundation for theories ranging from ray optics to electromagnetic field theory. These advances fulfilled humanity’s enduring quest for sharper vision and greater fidelity across microscopic and macroscopic scales—an endeavor we now recognize as imaging. In this talk, we will introduce some history and fundamentals in optical imaging, specifically the quantitative metrics to describe the quality of an imaging system and its sensitivity to optical and mechanical misalignment. Leveraging my training in imaging system, I will share the motivations and design considerations that went into my DIY astronomy setups from the early prototypes to the latest Astronomical Imaging & Metrology System (AIMS), along with lessons learned in each iteration. These hands-on experiences ultimately led to a service mission at UCF’s Robinson observatory to restore its “eyesight” and paved the way for its on-going research in astro-photonics.
Speaker: Dr. Zheyuan Zhu received his BS degree in physics from Nanjing University and PhD in Optics and Photonics from CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics at University of Central Florida. His research includes the development of novel optical imaging systems and the companion numerical methods for the extracting of the information-of-interest from the measurements. During this time, he developed an interest in amateur astronomy. After graduation, he continued as a research scientist at UCF working on the development of integrated photonic circuits and electronic peripherals for analogy matrix computations, targeting HPC (high-performance computing) and AI (artificial intelligence) applications. He is currently working in the semiconductor industry on micro-optics design, fabrication, and metrology.
About the event:
Many of SJAA’s events, like this one, are public and free to attend, but if you’re enjoying what SJAA has to offer, consider becoming a paid member for only $20 per year: https://www.sjaa.net/membership/benefits-of-membership-2/8 attendees
Past events
1073
Group links
Organizers
Members
8,129
