Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 22. That’s when the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association (TAAA) will be out in force to show you the wonders of the heavens at the annual Tucson Astronomy Festival. The event will be held at Brandi Fenton Memorial Park, Ramada 1, 3482 E. River Road, Tucson.
Things will get started at 3 P.M. MST. From then until 6:30 P.M., TAAA members will conduct safe solar observing. If you’ve never seen the Sun through a telescope, this is your chance for an up-close look. Some telescope filters will reveal sunspots, while other more exotic ones will enable you to see solar prominences and flares.
Then, from 7:30 P.M. to 9 P.M., the stars will come out. And not just the stars, but planets, nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies. TAAA members will have plenty of telescopes set up to see celestial objects like Mars, Jupiter, the Orion Nebula, the Whirlpool Galaxy, and lots more.
Other activities will include interactive astronomy exhibits (from 3 P.M. to 6 P.M.) and, at 6:30PM, door prize drawings. Maybe you’ll win the grand prize: a small telescope. But you must be present to win.
One cool aspect of the Tucson Astronomy Festival is that you can bring your own telescope to get help learning how to set up and operate it. So, if that scope you got for Christmas has you flummoxed, here’s your chance to have an expert help you figure it out.
The Tucson Astronomy Festival is sponsored by the TAAA. Do note, however, that this event depends on the weather. Follow the TAAA Facebook page for real-time updates.
Here are some links to this great astronomy club:
Website: www.tucsonastronomy.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tucsonastronomy
Instagram: www.instagram.com/tucsonastronomy/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@tucsonamateurastronomyasso2702
I’ll be there. I hope to see you.
Related: The Chiricahua Astronomy Complex: An observing mecca for amateurs
