Students learn about the vast reaches of outer space in the Astronomy Club, which hosts meetings every other Tuesday during lunch in H03.
The club has presentations about current astronomy events such as eclipses and new research, club president Gabrielle Tong said. The club also invites guest speakers with expertise to talk about their research, she continued.
“We’ve also done a worksop where people learn how to use software to edit astronomy pictures,” Tong said. “People can process raw telescope photos into cool pictures.”
The club went on a field trip to the extension to listen to a guest speaker from NASA last year, vice president Maitri Singhal said.
“We’ve also had multiple guest speakers from UCs and they share their experiences,” Singhal said. “A lot of the time, we ask them questions about what got them interested in astronomy. It’s interesting to hear different stories and what they’re working on.”
The president usually starts meetings by announcing what they will be doing that day, board member Malia Toy said. The activities can include a slide presentation of an astronomy topic or a guest speaker from a distinguished organization like a university that talks about a certain part of astronomy, she continued.
“A lot of the slides and events that we do are based off of current events that are going on in the sky,” Toy said. “For example, one time there was an eclipse in the same week, so we had slides that discuss how eclipses form.”
In addition to presentations on astronomy topics, the club sometimes does Kahoots or quizzes to make meetings more interactive, Singhal said. This lets them see if they are following the material, she continued.
“We also offer some resources like volunteer opportunities if we know any,” Singhal said. “During the eclipse, we gave out glasses to those who wanted to view the eclipse.”
Tong became interested in astronomy during middle school when she watched the livestream of the NASA Perseverance rover, she said. When she reached her freshman year, she joined the club and attended all the meetings, and eventually the president invited her to take over, she added.
“The night sky is there every night, but a lot of the time we don’t stop to look at it or consider what is there,” Tong said. “I think it’s important to be aware of astronomy because it surrounds us. It’s not commonly taught in schools, so I think the club is making it more accessible.”