Reza Gostar
Gathered under the stars the first Friday night of every month in the Campus Center a group of people sip coffee as they listen to lectures and discuss matters dealing with nature of the cosmos.
The Pierce College Astronomy Society had its first meeting January 2005 and has been growing ever since.
What started as a club with a few in attendance has evolved into an academic outreach society-offering students or anyone interested a venue into the world of space and science, currently the meetings average anywhere from 60-90 people in attendance.
No membership card is needed to attend the meeting.
All that is required is that one signs his or her name up on a sheet and that one has a genuine interest in the state of our planet and the surrounding universe.
Each meeting offers a lecture by a notable speaker currently involved in astronomy research.
According to Professor Carolyn Mallory, founder of the society, speakers have sometimes shared new breakthroughs and discoveries with the audience not yet released to the general public.
One of the society’s meetings had two speakers from the world of science and technologies.
John Dobson, the co-founder of the Sidewalk Astronomers and telescope builder.
Dobson, a teacher in the world of astronomy, who appeared in the PBS television series “The Astronomers,” and featured several times on “Sky and Telescope” magazine and has appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.”
Dobson’s lecture was informal and allowed the audience to have an open question and answer session that provided thought-provoking discussion amongst the participants.
Marc Moldwin, associate professor of space and physics of the University of California Los Angeles, was one of the other speakers at the meeting. His lecture concentrated on the importance of the Arctic in the field of astronomy research with an emphasis on magnetospheric and meliospheric physics and upper atmospheric electricity.
Moldwin presented colorful slides to the audience, walking them through the complex science and explaining the important link between atmospheric integrity and research.
Between the time to socialize over coffee, cookies and pastries the attendees were exposed to a vast array of information from current researchers that fueled their conversations.
Besides the lectures, the Astronomy Society offers students and others trips to Mt. Wilson, the Griffith Observatory, “dark sky” camping and special IMAX films of the moon and Mars.
According to Mallory, the society offers scholarship opportunities to the largest astronomy conference on the West Coast.
The Astronomy Society will meet two more times this Spring Semester on April 7 and May 5 at the Campus Center 7:30 p.m.
“We are all a part of the universe” Mallory said.
“The more people find about it the more they find out about them selves.”