Public Evening Lecture Series
STEWARD OBSERVATORY PUBLIC EVENING LECTURE SERIES
Lavinia Steward made her historic contribution of $60,000 to the University of Arizona “…TO BUY TELESCOPE OF HUGE SIZE,” on October 18, 1916. However, the United States entry into World War I delayed the construction of the Steward Telescope and its 36-inch mirror. That original Steward Telescope was finally used for the first time on July 17, 1922. It would take another 9 months before the Steward Observatory and Telescope would be formally and officially dedicated on April 23, 1923.
The Telescope, however, was ready to be used before the official dedication date and Prof. Andrew Ellicott Douglass, the first Director of Steward Observatory, did not leave the telescope idle. He invited members of the campus and Tucson communities to view the wonders of the night sky through this new, large (for the time) telescope. The date was September 28, 1922, and the Steward Observatory Public Evenings were born.
We are thrilled to able to celebrate 100 years of presenting lectures on astronomy and telescope viewing to the public by offering a special Public Evening Lecture on the 100th Anniversary of the very first Steward Public Evening. Please save the dates for the following Public Evening Lectures, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Steward Observatory Room N210 and on ZOOM at the URL: https://arizona.zoom.us/j/4470189357
All of the lectures and the use of the telescope are free of charge and open to the general public.
For more information, contact Dr. Thomas Fleming at 621-5049 or taf@arizona.edu.
Sign up for our monthly Astronomy Newsletter for more information about our lectures and other events taking place at
https://signup.e2ma.net/signup/1797802/1759894/
Click here to stream podcasts of previous Public Evening Lectures.
Fall 2022 Centennial Year Lectures
DATE | SPEAKER | TITLE |
Sep. 19 |
Dr. Thomas Fleming Dr. Buell Jannuzi, Director Steward Observatory |
100 Years of Steward Observatory |
Sep. 28 |
Dr. Marcia Rieke Regents Professor Dr. Elizabeth Roemer Endowed Chair Steward Observatory |
The Webb Telescope: Starting Steward Observatory's Next 100 Years |
Oct. 3 |
Dr. Daniel Marone Steward Observatory |
Imaging Black Holes with the Event Horizon Telescope |
Oct. 17 |
Dr. Christopher Walker Steward Observtory |
Floating Above Antarctica: The GUSTO Mission |
Nov. 14 |
Dr. Laird Close Steward Observatory |
Adaptive Optics at Steward Observatory |
Nov. 28 |
Dr. Becca Levy Steward Observatory |
A JWST View of Starburst Galaxies: Sweet Data Coming Soon! |
Prof. A. E. Douglass Prof. Marcia Rieke
Sep. 19, 1922 Speaker Sep. 28, 2022 Speaker

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