Dr Peter Plavchan, the director of GMU Observatory, gives a talk on exoplanet research and the hunt for Earth-like exoplanets.

Paul Derby (Northern Virginia Astronomy Club) talks about the features and advantages of using Unistellar's eVscope for astrophotography in light polluted environments.

Mr. Powell (Northern Virginia Astronomy Club) talks about the origins of meteorites and how they are classified.

Dr. Teasel Muir-Harmony (a historian of spaceflight and the curator of the Apollo Collection at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum) talks about Project Apollo and its impact on American society.

Dr. Stefanie Milam (JWST deputy project scientist for planetary science) discusses what we've found with JWST's first year of operations, and how these observations are already revolutionizing astronomy. This is followed by a brief closed-dome tour.

Thunyapong Mahapol from George Mason University talking about the nature of black holes, AGN, and what we can learn from their x-ray emissions. This is followed by a closed-dome tour.

Dr. Eve Lee from McGill University talking about the variety of exoplanet sizes, orbits, and compositions that we've found.

Assistant Professor Rob Parks from George Mason University talking about the status of astronomy in the era of mega-constellations.

Amber Stuver from from Villanova University talks about gravitational waves and the LIGO collaboration, followed by a closed-dome observatory tour.

William Matzko from GMU talks about the winds of colliding galaxies, followed by a closed-dome observatory tour.

Dr Parks, Kevin Collins, and Thunyapong M presents a night sky tour with views of the Moon, Orion nebula, Crab nebular, and virtual night sky!

Dr. Baughman talks on how time lags of X-ray emission of a black hole can tell us about its properties. Andrew Siddall and Thunyapong M presents a virtual night sky tour.

Dr. Parks presents on the contribution of women to the history of astronomy. Kevin Collins, Andrew Siddall, and Thunyapong M presents a night sky tour.

Evening Under the Stars with Courtney Crawford from Louisiana State University, with a talk on Auroras on Earth and elsewhere, hosted by Dr Rob Parks.

Dr Noviello presents on Cryovolcanism in our solar system. Dr Peter Plavchan, Kevin Collins & Andrew Siddall present live night sky views with George Mason Observatories.

Ryan Pfeifle presents on supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies. A virtual closed dome night sky tour with views of galaxies including the Fireworks Galaxy follows.

Lee Billings, Dr Plavchan, and Dr Parks discuss the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Survey, released November 4th, 2021. The discussion was followed by a closed dome tour.

Dr. Parks and Kevin Collins presents a night sky tour with views of Jupiter, Saturn, the Ring nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy! 

Dr. Parks presents on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Afterwards, take a closed dome telescope tour with Dr. Parks and Dr. Plavchan with views of Jupiter, Saturn, M13 and the Whirlpool Galaxy.

Dr. Kenworthy discusses the young star J1407, which had an eclipse that lasted over two months, indicating that a giant ring system moved in front of the star, and what such systems can tell us about exoplanet and exomoon formation. The talk was followed by an open-dome observatory tour.

Dr. Cann discusses the hunt for black holes and the utility of the James Webb Space Telescope in that endeavor. Closed dome tour was given.

David Brown presents the story that led to the Europa Clipper mission. After a Q&A, we take a closed dome night sky tour with Mason's Observatory staff. 

Dr. Kipping answers the question of "Are we alone?" with the best answer we can provide right now grounded in a Bayesian framework - we don't know! After a Q&A, we take a closed dome night sky tour with Mason's Observatory staff. 

Dr. Wright discusses alien megastructures and how we might detect such technology! Popular related topics, including Oumuamua and Boyajian's star, are also discussed. Open dome tour given. 

Dr. van Belle discusses his own accidental involvement in the vote on Pluto's planetary status, along with re-examining a question: What is a planet, and why do we care? Also, in an Evening Under the Stars first, see a few telescopes from Lowell Observatory along with our own open-dome tour!

Dr. Boyajian discusses the infamously mysterious star KIC 8462852, known as "Boyajian's Star” in her honor. Followed by a closed-dome tour of our campus telescope.

Dr. Peter Plavchan presents a special event - a live viewing of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction!

Dr. Horst discusses Titan, one of Saturn's moons. A summary of Titan's characteristics and past exploration history is given, as well as information on the upcoming Dragonfly mission, set to explore Titan in 2027. A closed-dome tour was given. 

Dr. Parks gives a tour of the universe, starting with our solar system and working out to the largest of scales! Open dome tour was given. Special viewing of Daniel's star at 1:07:15 and 1:50:00. 

Dr. Rebull dives into the history behind the infrared telescope Spitzer, its involvement in multitude of missions, and its successes and failures. Open dome tour was given. 

Dr. Christiansen discusses a variety of exoplanets, including popular fictitious planets! Open dome tour was given. 

Dr. Gorjian lectures on black holes and some common misconceptions associated with them. Bonus video included on gravitational waves being explained using stick figures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHS9g72npqA.  Open dome tour was given.

Dr. Holwerda discusses Rubin's galaxy, a spiral galaxy so large it defies our understanding of galaxy formation! Closed-dome tour due to poor weather.

Dr. Currie talks about challenges and results of directly imaging exoplanets. Closed-dome tour due to poor weather.

Dr. Tanner discusses her work on black holes. Closed-dome tour due to poor weather.

Observatory Director Dr. Plavchan discusses his recent detection of a very interesting and very young exoplanet. Closed-dome tour due to poor weather.

Dr. Kane discusses two very unique types of planets, one of which lies in our Solar System. Open-dome tour given.

No talk was given this night. Instead, enjoy Dr. Plavchan taking live images of various astronomical objects! Targets include Venus, the Moon, Orion nebula, Whirlpool galaxy, and more!