Free Community Astronomy Event: Saturday, May 9
By Contributor
The Kootenays own astrophysicists are hosting an event that highlights both our communities and our heavens. Her letter is as follows:
My name is Steffani Grondin and I am an astrophysicist at the University of California San Diego. My colleague Ella Meyer (CC’ed) is a Quantum Computing Outreach Coordinator at the University of British Columbia. We both grew up in the West Kootenays, where I graduated from Stanley Humphries in 2015 and Ella graduated from Crowe in 2015.
Recently, we received a grant from the International Astronomical Union (the international governing body for professional astronomers) to run both astronomy workshops for local high-school students/teachers and a free family-friendly astronomy community evening. To our knowledge, these will be the first dedicated astronomy events in the area, which is incredibly exciting!
In particular, we are holding our community event on Saturday, May 9 from 7-11pm in Kinsmen Park, next to the Castlegar Public Library. The event will be open to everyone in Castlegar and Trail, where we see this as a unique opportunity to engage these communities that don’t often have the chance to interact directly with astronomers or scientists. Our event will include stargazing with telescopes, a meet+greet with real astronomers, space trivia/games, refreshments, and a variety of prizes. All aspects will be free to attendees.
In addition to attending and doing coverage of our event (which we think should be a lot of fun!), we were hoping that you might consider helping us advertise our event, so we can reach a wider number of people. Ella and I are happy to answer any questions you may have beforehand. We have also attached an event poster in case it is helpful.
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