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 celebrate over 100 years of presenting lectures on astronomy & telescope viewing to the public.
Public Evening Lectures will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Steward Observatory Room N210.
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 videos of previous Public Evening Lectures.
You can watch each lecture live on ZOOM at the following link: https://arizona.zoom.us/my/stewardobservatory
Spring 2024 Lectures
DATE | SPEAKER | TITLE |
Jan. 22 |
Dr. Christopher Walker Abram Young Steward Obervatory |
What's up with GUSTO? A Status Report |
Feb. 5 |
Dr. Sean Linden Peter A. Strittmatter Fellow Steward Observatory |
A Cosmic Odyssey: The Epic Journey of our Milky Way Galaxy |
Feb. 19 |
Dr. Marcia Rieke Elizabeth Roemer Chair Regents Professor Steward Observatory |
JWST: Two Years of Operations Are Changing Astronomy! A Lecture to Celebrate Dr. Rieke's Winning of the A.S.P.'s Catherine W. Bruce Medal |
Mar. 4 |
Dr. J. Roger Angel Regents Professor Steward Observatory |
50 Years at Steward: Optics for Astronomy and Now to Reverse Climate Change* |
Mar. 11 |
Dr. Jeffrey Bennett Univ. of Colorado |
Pathway to a Post-Global Warming Future Co-Sponsored by The Arizona Environment Program book-signing after the lecture |
Mar. 25 |
Dr. Andras Gaspar Steward Observatory |
Forty years of debris disks: From IRAS to JWST |
Apr. 15 |
Dr. Christopher Cokinos Dept. Of English University of Arizona |
Still as Bright: An Illuminating History of the Moon from Antiquity to Tomorrow book-signing after the lecture |
Apr. 29 |
Dr. Kathryne Daniel Steward Observatory |
Galactic Symphony: The Harmonic Evolution of Our Milky Way Galaxy |
For Public
Public events include our Monday Night Lecture Series, world-reknowned Astronomy Camp and Mt Lemmon Sky Center.
For Students
A good place to start if you want to become an undergrad major or grad student, or need to find our schedule of classes.
For Scientists
Find telescopes and instruments, telescope time applications, staff and mountain contacts, and faculty and staff scientific interests.