First Friday Astronomy

First Friday Astronomy – Summer 2026

Posted by admin on April 8, 2026
Posted in: First Friday Astronomy, Public Outreach. Tagged: .

Boise State’s First Friday Astronomy Event Schedule for Summer 2026. Our guests will be

  • May 1 – Dr. Ellie Hara, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – From Stardust to Cells: The Unsolved Mystery of Life’s Origin
  • Jun 5 – Dr. Racine Cleveland, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Boise State University – Of Dunes and Ice: A Surface-Atmosphere Investigation on Planetary Bodies – racinecleveland.com
  • Jul 3 – Kirk Long, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Colorado Boulder – How to Weigh a Supermassive Black Hole: Insights From Quasars Across Cosmic Time
  • Aug 7 – Dr. Kathryn Gardner-Vandy, Associate Professor of Aviation & Space, Oklahoma State University – Meteorites: The Storytellers of our Solar System – experts.okstate.edu/kat.gardner-vandy

Citizen Science in Astronomy

Posted by admin on September 4, 2024
Posted in: First Friday Astronomy, Public Outreach. Tagged: , .
On August 21st 2017 a total solar eclipse crossed the USA from coast to coast. The Citizen CATE Experiment used a fleet of telescopes to observe the solar corona during this spectacular event. From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIII0aOZ4UA.

Among different fields of science, astronomy has a unique history of citizen science projects. In the last few decades, the advent of user-friendly software and web infrastructure, as well as off-the-shelf research-grade instrumentation, has led to a golden age of citizen science astronomy. Opportunities for amateurs to contribute meaningfully to astronomical research have never been more plentiful.

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The Lure-a of Aurorae

Posted by admin on July 1, 2024
Posted in: First Friday Astronomy, Public Outreach. Tagged: , .
May’s Northern Lights as seen from Boise State’s Observatory

An usually active Sun has given us some especially brilliant and visible Northern Lights in recent months. For Boise State Physics’ July 2024 First Friday Astronomy event, we’ll host Dr. Elizabeth Macdonald, director of NASA’s Aurorasaurus project. In preparation for that event, I’ve written this short primer on the science of the Northern Lights.

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The Science of Shadows

Posted by admin on May 26, 2024
Posted in: First Friday Astronomy, Public Outreach. Tagged: .
Observation of an occultation. From https://science.unistellar.com/asteroid-occultations/.

The advent of increasingly sophisticated, commercial-grade astronomical hardware and software is democratizing science in a profound way. Citizen scientists have helped find planets in other solar systems, classify galaxies, and spot supernovae. Closer to home, citizen scientists are helping unlock the mysteries of our own solar system through the science of occultations.

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