PRESCOTT AStronomy Club
Exploring the Night Sky Together
Our Mission:
- Bring together people interested in astronomy
- Help them develop their astronomical skills and knowledge
- Encourage education about and public interest in astronomy
2025 Prescott Astronomy Club meetings and events:
March 5 @ 6p: Club Meeting – “Bursting with Stars: Exploring stars, gas, and dust with HST and JWST”,
Dr. Hwihyun Kim, NOIRLab
March 27: Starry Nights Star Party: 7:45p @ Williamson Valley Trailhead
April 4: Monthly club meeting CANCELED (due to library maintenance)
April 24: Field trip to Lowell Observatory. Details coming via club member email.
May 1: Starry Nights Star Party: 8:30p @ Williamson Valley Trailhead
May 7 @ 6p: Club Meeting – “How Exotic Materials Enable Exotic Geology in the Outer Solar System”,
Dr. Will Grundy, Lowell Observatory
May 23: Starry Nights Star Party: 8:30p @ Williamson Valley Trailhead
June 4 @ 6p: Club Meeting – “Flying the ‘vomit comet’: Experiences in microgravity”, Dr. Jennifer Hanley, Lowell Observatory
Monthly club meetings, Starry Nights star parties, and solar/lunar viewing events are open to the public.
Club meetings are held from 6p-8p @ Prescott Public Library, Founders Suite
All telescope viewing events as well as private star party events are weather dependent.
Cancelations will be noted above and sent via email to club members.
Club Merchandise is Back!!
Its been many years since the last club merchandise was available, and now our logo gear is back for a limited time.
T-shirts $30 – Gray short sleeve with pocket
Hats $25 – Gray baseball style with adjustable strap
Mugs $25 – White with club logo (*coming soon*)
These club merchandise items will be for sale at all club events (except not at the Prescott Public Library). Come out to a star party or any of our events to view and purchase the items.
If you want an item and are not attending one of the club events contact Brian Blau (contacts page).
Upcoming Event Descriptions
April Club Meeting (CANCELED)
Wednesday, April 2, 2025 at 6:00 PM
The April meeting has been canceled due to maintenance at the library.
in 8 days, 9 hours, 58 minutes
Club Meeting
Wednesday, June 4, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Flying the "vomit comet": Experiences in microgravity
Dr. Jennifer Hanley, Lowell Observatory
As part of a NASA-sponsored project, Dr. Jennifer Hanley participated in reduced gravity flights to test new instruments for space exploration. She helped run nano-impactor experiments at 0.08 and 0.05 g. The impactors had motion sensors installed that monitored speed and spin upon impact in various density media. In this talk she will discuss her experiences and show videos from the multiple microgravity parabolas.
Dr. Jennifer Hanley is a tenured planetary scientist at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ. Her current research focuses on investigating the stability and properties of liquids and ices at low temperatures and pressures with relevance to the outer Solar System, especially Titan and Pluto.
in 2 months, 10 days, 9 hours, 58 minutes
Starry Nights Star Parties
Thursday, March 27, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Starry Nights star parties are open to the public and are free to attend. Come out for an evening of star gazing under the incredible dark skies of Prescott!
Starry Nights star parties are on the following dates:
March 27: sunset 6:47p, viewing starts 7:30p
May 1: sunset 7:15p, viewing starts 8:00p
May 23: sunset 7:32, viewsing starts 8:15p
All spring 2025 Starry Nights star parties will be held at Williamson Valley Trailhead, located on Williamson Valley Rd at Granite Oaks Dr.
in 2 days, 11 hours, 28 minutes
Club Meeting
Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at 6:00 PM
How Exotic Materials Enable Exotic Geology in the Outer Solar System.
In different planetary settings, nature has distinct materials to work with. These
lead to wildly divergent geological processes across the solar system.
Laboratory studies of the materials can shed light on how the
mysterious landscapes that have been explored by NASA's robotic
spacecraft came to be.
Dr. Will Grundy is a planetary scientist at Lowell Observatory and a co-
investigator on NASA's New Horizons and Lucy missions. He studies icy,
outer Solar System objects using a variety of experimental techniques,
including space- and ground-based imaging and spectroscopy, as well as
laboratory studies of low temperature materials.
in 1 months, 13 days, 9 hours, 58 minutes