Event

LIVE AND IN PERSON in our usual room with Zoom for those who can't make it and then archived to our aptly named YouTube channel University Lowbrow Astronomers.

 
Speaker: Kristina Collins
Topic: “Citizen Science Project to Monitor the Ionosphere”

Date: Friday, July 18, 2025

Time: 7 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. Eastern

Location: Sherzer Observatory
Ypsilanti, MI 48197

Information for Visitors

Location Details

Event Report

Comments and anecdotes about the event:
This was our annual trip to Eastern Michigan University. We meet outside of the planetarium sphere to enjoy pizza, pop, and cookies, and this year some banana bread provided by Ernie Behringer, who heads the astronomy department. After we eat we go into the planetarium. This year our speaker was Dr. Kristina Collins, who spoke to us about how we can use radio signals to monitor our ionosphere. She used both the dome and large touch screen monitor for displays. We definitely pushed the technology and Zoom broadcast to its limits, and beyond. After our business meeting our host Norbert Vance lead us over to Sherzer Observatory, where we enjoyed views of Epsilon Lyra, M13, and Albireo as well as the urban surroundings from the roof observation deck. We had moderate wild fire smoke, but otherwise a very clear sky. We had 35 in-person attendees, and 5 via Zoom.

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