The Phoenix Astronomical Society (PAS) was founded in 1948 to provide educational activities in astronomy at all levels. Our general meetings feature professional astronomers and scientists from universities, and observatories around the state, as well as amateur specialists from local astronomy clubs. Some of our more well-known speakers have been Clyde Tombaugh (discoverer of the planet Pluto), David Levy (comet hunter), Dr. Susan Wyckoff (ASU), Fr. Martin McCarthy (Vatican Observatory), Kim Poor (Space Artist), and Jeff Hester (HST pioneer). We try to provide our membership with stimulating and entertaining general meetings every season. To see all of our scheduled events, please click on the the Upcoming Events link to the left.

Lectures Schedule for 2008-2009:
Date   Speaker   Affiliation*   Topic
September 4th   David Williams   ASU   Latest Insights into the Geology of Mars from Recent Missions
October 2nd  Jeff Hopkins  SAC  Variable Stars
November 5th  Sonny Schug  PAS  A Brief History of Astrophotography
December 4th  Mike George  ASC  Black Holes
February            
March            
April            
May          

         
*Affiliations:        
AAPT = American Association of Physics Teachers  
  With giant Saturn hanging in the blackness and sheltering Cassini from the sun's blinding glare, the spacecraft viewed the rings as never before, revealing previously unknown faint rings and even glimpsing its home world.

This marvelous panoramic view was created by combining a total of 165 images taken by the Cassini wide-angle camera over nearly three hours on Sept. 15, 2006. The full mosaic consists of three rows of nine wide-angle camera footprints; only a portion of the full mosaic is shown here. Color in the view was created by digitally compositing ultraviolet, infrared and clear filter images and was then adjusted to resemble natural color.
To learn more about this image and the Cassini Mission visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia08329.html
  
ASU = Arizona State University  
AZ SED=Arizona State Education Department
FA = Foothills Academy  
JPL = Jet Propulsion Laboratories  
JPL SSA=JPL Solar System Ambassador
LO=Lowell Observatory
NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration  
NPOI = Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer  
PAS = Phoenix Astronomical Society  
SAC = Saguaro Astronomy Club  
SGFE=Star Gazing For Everyone
SLC = Sirius Lookers, Sedona Astronomy Club  
UofA = University of Arizona  
USGS = United States Geological Service  
VVAC = Verde Valley Astronomy Club