Lots of Telescopes on the field

Astronomers from across southeastern Michigan will set up solar telescopes during the afternoon, and telescopes of all shapes and sizes during the evening for you to observe numerous night sky objects! In 2023, we had reps from NASA Glenn who brought a giant inflatable Artemis rocket.

Jack Brisbin with Lowbrows’ telescope. Credit: Amy Cantu

Presentations and Hands-on

There will be a keynote lecture from a special guest both Friday and Saturday nights, as well as presentations by local astronomers – many of whom are volunteer NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors!

Jeff Kopmanis presenting “Diving into Astrophotography (without selling a kidney!)” on June 8, 2019 at the Cromaine District Library for their Alive 55+ program.

Astronomy Club Tables

Several Astronomy clubs and event hosts will be set up at tables with representatives, freebies, teacher resources, demonstrations and more! You can chat with local astronomers, and maybe schedule a lecturer to speak to your group.

This year’s theme is: Our Home Star

The Sun is nearing solar maximum, and is becoming more active – sunspots are appearing more often, and flares are more frequent; space weather is more energetic, and auroras and radio disturbances are occurring more frequently. Our lecturers will discuss the life-cycles of stars, the amazing processes taking place within them, and how space weather can affect space-based telecommunications and ground-based electrical infrastructure.

Raffle

This year, we will have a raffle to help offset the cost of the event. Our grand prize will be a ZWO Seestar S50 electronic telescope!

Tickets will be available to purchase in the tent with the Astronomy Club tables. Good luck!

This telescope has rapidly gaining popularity with Michigan amateur astronomers – you’ll get a change to see several in action during the event!

Keynote Speakers:

Melissa Kaelin

Michigan Aurora Chasers (Friday)

Melissa F. Kaelin is a writer, painter and Aurora Chaser residing in Michigan. She has led many community initiatives including founding the Michigan Aurora Chasers, creating the Social Gap Experiment, and co-founding the annual Aurora Summit.

Rory Bowens

University of Michigan – Department of Astronomy (Saturday)

Rory Bowens is a graduate student working towards a Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Michigan. Rory is working alongside his mentor, Dr. Michael Meyer, to develop and use infrared detectors for high contrast imaging. Through the use of adaptive optics, it is possible for ground-based mid-infrared detectors to complement space-based missions such as JWST in the contrast-limited regime.

Rory is using the MITTEN cryostat in order to test the performance of future mid-infrared detectors while simultaneously working on the deployment of the mid-IR instrument MIRAC-5 on the 6.5 meter MMT telescope.

Schedule

Friday Sept. 20

4:00 – 6:00 PM: Solar Observing with Astronomers – Telescope field
7:00 – 7:30 PM: How to Make a Comet – Michigan Science Center
7:45 – 8:45 PM: Keynote: Auroras – Melissa Kaelin – Michigan Aurora Chasers
8:30 –11:30 PM: Night Sky Observing with Astronomers – Telescope field
9:00 – 9:50 PM: Presentation: The Wonderful Webb – Tim Campbell – Volunteer NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
10:30 – 11:30 PM: Laser Tour of the Night Sky – Telescope field

Click here to download a PDF of the AATB Schedule

Saturday Sept. 21

4:00 – 6:00 PM: Solar Observing with Astronomers – Telescope field
7:00 – 7:30 PM: How to Make a Comet (tentative) – Michigan Science Center
7:45 – 8:45 PM: Keynote: Aurora – Melissa Kaelin (Michigan Aurora chasers)
8:30 –11:30 PM: Night Sky Observing with Astronomers – Telescope field
9:00 – 9:50 PM: Presentation: Light Pollution – Rory Bowens – UofM Astronomy
10:30 – 11:30 PM: Laser Tour of the Night Sky – Telescope field

Food and Drink

The Civil Air Patrol will be the food vendor this year. The selections should be similar to previous years – pizza, chips, soft drinks, etc.

Temporary New Location

The event is at Maybury State Park this year – Island Lake State Park, where Astronomy at the Beach has been held for several years, is under construction this fall, so the event had to be moved to this temporary location. AATB will return to Island Lake State Park in 2025.

Click image for Google Map to the event’s location

Site Plan

Field Layout

Cost and Parking

The Astronomy at the Beach event itself is free. However, it is located within a state park, so a Michigan State Park “Recreation Passport” on your license plate tag is required to get you in; a metro-park sticker is not adequate (since this is not a metro-park).

If you do not have a Recreation Passport, you can buy the annual sticker at the gate for $13 (plus a $5 convenience fee – because they really want you to buy this option when you renew your vehicle registration tags).