Michigan’s Largest FREE Astronomy Event!
Event is over, but you can watch recordings of almost everything!
- AATB 2020 featured numerous live presentations about astronomy and space science by local astronomers and several special guests!
- Several remote telescope viewing sessions showed live views of the Moon, planets and deep-sky objects through telescopes located across the U.S.!
- We also had a large selection of recorded presentations by local astronomers, and videos we hope will get you interested in astronomy, and keep you interested for a lifetime!
To Watch Events:
- Click the link for the event in the Sidebar, Mini-Schedule or Event Excerpt below.
- Scroll to the bottom of the event entry.
- There will either be a video or WATCH button you can click to begin watching.
- Many entries also have supplementary material for you to watch.
Special Guests
Brother Guy Consolmagno SJ is Director of the the Vatican Observatory and President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he earned undergraduate and masters’ degrees from MIT, and a Ph. D. in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona; he was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard and MIT, served in the US Peace Corps (Kenya), and taught university physics at Lafayette College before entering the Jesuits in 1989.
Along with more than 200 scientific publications, he is the author of a number of popular books including Turn Left at Orion (with Dan Davis), and most recently Would You Baptize an Extraterrestial? (with Father Paul Mueller, SJ).
Dan Davis is a professor of geophysics at Stony Brook University. His primary area of research specialization is the tectonics of regions where plates converge, causing great earthquakes and the construction of mountain belts. Other areas of research include the application of geophysics to nuclear arms control and to the study of glacial and post-glacial geology.
Dan is a lifelong stargazer, and although during the daytime his attention is focused downward towards the Earth, that changes after dark.
David H. Levy is one of the most successful comet discoverers in history. He has discovered 22 comets, nine of them using his own backyard telescopes. With Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California he discovered Shoemaker-Levy 9, the comet that collided with Jupiter in 1994. That episode produced the most spectacular explosions ever witnessed in the solar system. Levy is currently involved with the Jarnac Comet Survey, which is based at the Jarnac Observatory in Vail, Arizona but which has telescopes planned for locations around the world.
Dolores Hill, a former resident of Michigan, is a meteorite specialist at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Lab, is now also a public outreach specialist with NASA’s OSIRIS Rex mission to asteroid Bennu operated by LPL. The goal of OSIRIS-REx is to collect a sample of Bennu in mid-2020, and return it to Earth in late 2023. Bennu turned out to be rockier than anticipated, but mission planners have now identified four sites on its surface that are smooth enough for OSIRIS-REx to collect a sample. Dolores will fill us in on the latest news about the sites chosen to be sampled, and what we’ve learned so far about this fascinating little neighbor of ours in space.
Brother Guy Consolmagno SJ is Director of the the Vatican Observatory and President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he earned undergraduate and masters’ degrees from MIT, and a Ph. D. in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona; he was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard and MIT, served in the US Peace Corps (Kenya), and taught university physics at Lafayette College before entering the Jesuits in 1989.
Along with more than 200 scientific publications, he is the author of a number of popular books including Turn Left at Orion (with Dan Davis), and most recently Would You Baptize an Extraterrestial? (with Father Paul Mueller, SJ).
Dan Davis is a professor of geophysics at Stony Brook University. His primary area of research specialization is the tectonics of regions where plates converge, causing great earthquakes and the construction of mountain belts. Other areas of research include the application of geophysics to nuclear arms control and to the study of glacial and post-glacial geology.
Dan is a lifelong stargazer, and although during the daytime his attention is focused downward towards the Earth, that changes after dark.
David H. Levy is one of the most successful comet discoverers in history. He has discovered 22 comets, nine of them using his own backyard telescopes. With Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California he discovered Shoemaker-Levy 9, the comet that collided with Jupiter in 1994. That episode produced the most spectacular explosions ever witnessed in the solar system. Levy is currently involved with the Jarnac Comet Survey, which is based at the Jarnac Observatory in Vail, Arizona but which has telescopes planned for locations around the world.
Dolores Hill, a former resident of Michigan, is a meteorite specialist at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Lab, is now also a public outreach specialist with NASA’s OSIRIS Rex mission to asteroid Bennu operated by LPL. The goal of OSIRIS-REx is to collect a sample of Bennu in mid-2020, and return it to Earth in late 2023. Bennu turned out to be rockier than anticipated, but mission planners have now identified four sites on its surface that are smooth enough for OSIRIS-REx to collect a sample. Dolores will fill us in on the latest news about the sites chosen to be sampled, and what we’ve learned so far about this fascinating little neighbor of ours in space.
Online Education 2020-2021:
Many of our lecturers and remote telescope operators will do online sessions for your in-school or at-home group – for free! Subjects can range from astronomy and space science, to astrophotography, history, the space program and more!
If you are interested in having an online astronomy or space science presentation for your group – contact us!
Mini-Schedule:
Friday, September 25th
Note: Times are PM in Eastern Time (ET)
Live
Presentations
6:00 Poetry of the Night
Special Guest David Levy
7:00 Binocular Astronomy – Diane Hall
7:30 The Impact Theory of Dinosaur Extinction – Jesse Mason
7:30 Intro to Neutrino Physics – Gerry Chevrier
8:00 Radio Astronomy – Tom Hagen
8:30 Size & Distance in the Universe – Ken Bertin
9:30 Mars: Past, Present & Future – Dale Partin
Kid
Friendly
6:00 Amazing Astronomy and Fantastic Physics – MiSci Center
7:00 Live Sky – Flint Longway Planetarium – Jeff Stark
7:30 Tour of the Solar System with SpaceEngine – Bob Trembley
8:30 Scale Model of the Solar System – Mike Bruno
9:00 Building & Launching Rockets in Kerbal Space Program – Bob Trembley
Live Telescope
Viewing
(Weather Permitting)
3:00-5:30 H-alpha Solar – Awni Hafedh
3:00-5:30 White-light Solar – Paul Goelz
8:00-Midnight Live from Ypsilanti – Jeff Kopmanis
8:30 View the Moon – Samer Hariri
9:00 Star-hopping with Stellarium – Adrian Bradley
9:00-Midnight Live from Pinckney – Don Swetzig
9:30-Midnight Live from Hartland – Doug Bock
10:00-11:00 Live from Woodhaven – Gordon Hansen
10:00-Midnight Live from New Mexico – Brian Ottum
24×7 All-Sky Camera – Live from Wixom – Liam Finn
On-Demand Presentations
PoSSUM Space Academy – Rebecca Blum
Space Camp – Rebecca Blum
Space Camp Experience & Student Space Clubs on Astronomy for Everyone – Rebecca Blum
Debate: Sending Humans to Mars
Explore the Sun in Real-Time with the GONG
Is Pluto a Planet? – CGP Grey
Intro to Astrophotography – Awni Hafedh
Saturday, September 26th
Note: Times are PM in Eastern Time (ET)
Live
Presentations
5:00 Teacher Forum – Teaching Astronomy to Children – Connie Martin-Trembley & Paulette Epstein.
5:00 Light Pollution – Norb Vance
6:00 Turning Left at Orion – Special Guests Brother Guy Consolmagno & Dan Davis
7:00 OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Mission is GO for TAG: Final Update Before Sample Collection! Special Guest Dolores Hill
8:00 Night Sky Myth Busters – John Pannuto
8:30 Spectroscopy – Tim Campbell
9:30 NASA Rocket Launch Photography – John McGill
Kid
Friendly
5:00 Planetarium – Tim Campbell
6:00 Amazing Astronomy and Fantastic Physics – MiSci Center
6:30 Scale Model of the Solar System – Mike Bruno
7:00 Virtual Planetarium – MiSci Center
8:00 Live Q&A: Ask the Astronomers!
9:00 Tour of the Solar System with SpaceEngine – Bob Trembley
Live Telescope
Viewing
(Weather Permitting)
3:00-5:30 H-alpha Solar – Awni Hafedh
3:00-5:30 White-light Solar – Jeff Kopmanis
4:00-5:30 White-light Solar – Paul Goelz
8:30-9:00 View the Moon – Samer Hariri
8:30-Midnight Live from Ypsilanti – Jeff Kopmanis
9:00 Star-hopping with Stellarium – Adrian Bradley
9:30-Midnight Live from Hartland – Doug Bock
10:00-11:00 Live from Woodhaven – Gordon Hansen
10:00-Midnight Live from New Mexico – Brian Ottum
24×7 All-Sky Camera Live from Wixom – Liam Finn
On-Demand Presentations
How to Pronounce Uranus – CGP Grey
Scale of the Universe – Science Insider
Life Cycle of Stars – Institute of Physics
Which Planet is Closest? – CGP Grey
Cassini Mission to Saturn Grand Finale – JPL
Evolution of the Moon – NASA
Tour of the Moon – NASA
Curiosity Mars Rover Landing – NASA
Σverything Λstronomy – YouTube Channel
Friday, September 25th Schedule:
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Saturday, September 26th Schedule:
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On-Demand Videos and Presentations – Watch Anytime!
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See what happens at Astronomy at the Beach:
Hosts
- Great Lakes Association of Astronomy Clubs
- Michigan Department of Natural Resources Island Lake State Recreation Center
Sponsors
- Major support is provided by: Michigan Science Center
- Contributing support provided by:
- The member clubs and societies of the the Great Lakes Association of Astronomy Clubs