LVAAS General Meeting

Sunday May 4, 7 p.m. at LVAAS South Mountain Headquarters, Allentown PA

 

Speaker is via Zoom
 

"Citizen Science, Variable Stars, and the AAVSO"

Featuring Dr. Brian Kloppenborg

"Citizen Science, Variable Stars, and the AAVSO" introduces the exciting world of citizen science in astronomy, focusing on how you can actively contribute to scientific discovery. The talk covers engaging citizen science projects, such as those on Zooniverse, and collaborations like JunoCAM, IOTA, and SAS. It includes a detailed look at variable stars, featuring examples like SS Cyg, T CrB, and Cepheid variables, and highlights recent discoveries, such as the Great Dimming of Betelgeuse and the newly discovered Iota Del. Finally, the talk introduces the AAVSO, its resources, and how you can start observing variable stars either visually or digitally.

Dr. Brian Kloppenborg is an astrophysicist and entrepreneur currently serving as the Executive Director of the AAVSO. He earned a Ph.D. in Physics with an astrophysics specialization from the University of Denver and a B.A. in Physics from Hastings College. Before joining the AAVSO, Dr. Kloppenborg worked as a Research Scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, where he led multidisciplinary teams as a subject matter expert, lead engineer, product owner, and project director.

Dr. Kloppenborg’s research focuses on combining photometry, spectroscopy, astrometry, and long-baseline optical interferometry to deepen our understanding of eclipsing binaries, novae, and young stellar objects. His work has been published in esteemed journals, including Nature, The Astrophysical Journal, and the Journal of the AAVSO.

Throughout his career, Dr. Kloppenborg has been dedicated to fostering collaboration between amateur and professional astronomers, advancing scientific discovery, and promoting educational outreach in astronomy.

 

Prospective new members who wish to attend the meeting should email membership@lvaas.org.