Astro 101: Celestial Tales, Spring and Summer Chapters
Details
This event is one of several introductions to astronomy offered by SJAA. During this hour, we'll regale you with a combo Spring & Summer Chapter of a 4-part expedition across the seasons. We'll share stories told about the stars in the night sky, journeying from ancestral tales to the rituals that shaped civilization.
We’ll walk in the footsteps of the pioneers, legends, rebels, and geniuses who paved the way for modern astronomy. You’ll discover how Eratosthenes and Aryabhata, 750 years apart and at different ends of the world, measured the Earth’s circumference with remarkable accuracy, why Noon and the Sun’s highest point were not always the same, and why modern space probes are intentionally placed at unstable Lagrange points.
These stories reveal the awe, ingenuity, and surprising connections behind the modern science we know today.
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 7:15pm.
Celestial Tales will be presented by Rashi Girdhar, a seasoned backyard astronomer and longtime SJAA member with a deep fascination for outer space, both science and history. Join us as we reclaim the lessons of the past to better understand our place in the cosmos. Through this seasonal series and our other SJAA sessions, you will truly become a Celestial Explorer. Bring your curiosity; we’ll provide the universe!
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/
During this event, we will ask all visitors to sign in, so that we can report attendance numbers to the city of San Jose, as San Jose has made Houge Park facilities available to SJAA to serve the public. The sign-in process does not require any sensitive, personal information..
(Title image generated via AI by Rashi Girdhar for Celestial Tales.)