Prior Events

 This is our annual “Summer Doldrums Event” where we will do solar observing in both White and H-Alpha light. We will also look at a morning Waning Gibbous Moon. If skies are clear enough, we will also hunt down Venus in the daytime sky. 

SkyWatcher Senior Product Specialist Kevin Legore will discuss some of the latest product introductions from Skywatcher. This includes the Heliostar 76 H-Alpha Solar Telescope, the HAC 125 DX Astrograph, and of course the Strainwave Mounts. We might even get a sneak peek at some new refractors in the pipeline!!!

Suncoast Stargazers member and educator Chris Schementi will discuss how to collimate and star test a telescope to get the most out of your optics. 

  Katherine "Kat" Troche will discuss her involvement with the NASA Night Sky Network of which the Suncoast Stargazers are an active member. 

Kat is a dedicated amateur astronomer and informal educator based in New York City. Her passion for astronomy was ignited over a decade ago during a star party in Central Park, leading her to become an active figure in the local amateur astronomy community. Under the moniker "Kuiper Kat," Kat maintains an active online presence, sharing her astronomical experiences and knowledge through her personal website and social media platforms.

In her professional capacity, Kat is an administrator with Night Sky Network and a project coordinator at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP). Beyond her work with the ASP, Kat is a NASA Solar System Ambassador and co-chair of the Observing Committee for the Amateur Astronomers Association (AAA). She conducts astronomy outreach through social media, public observing events, and collaborations with various organizations across New York City's five boroughs.

10299 9th Avenue Northwest, Bradenton

 Christina Andrade is a researcher at the University of Minnesota. Her expertise is the study of supernovae of neutron stars.  She is an Astrophysicist and Physics based engineer with her B.S. from U of Minnesota. Currently Cristina is a research professional and data analyst/simulation programmer for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s kilonovae detection project and head of operations for the Kilonova-Catcher citizen science project.

Christina will be presenting on gravitational waves and how we are able to detect them, analyze them and what their discovery reveals about our universe

  10299 9th Avenue Northwest, Bradenton 

  1055 Blvd of the Arts, Sarasota  

 NASA Solar System Ambassador and member Howard Hochhalter will give us a tour of the April and May skies as the 2024/2025 observing season winds down here in Florida 

  Saturday March 8th, 2025, Robinson Preserve. Evening Stargazing

 10299 9th Avenue Northwest, Bradenton