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Department of Physics and Astronomy

Astronomy Interests

If you are interested in astronomy activities at USC, this page will give you ways to get involved.

Clubs:

Weekly Astronomy Journal Club:
This is an informal weekly meeting where faculty and students discuss papers from the astrophysics literature. Grad students and advanced undergrads may sign up to take a 1-credit class (ASTR 599) that coincides with the journal club.  Many students pursuing an astronomy minor will take ASTR 599 up to 3 times to earn credits toward the minor. Contact an astronomy professor to learn when and how to enroll. Note that these discussions are aimed at grad students and advanced undergrads, so we will often get a little deep and technical.  All students are welcome, though, and we absolutely welcome questions of all kinds on the topic of the week.
 
Midlands Astronomy Club:
The MAC is not a USC organization, but it has lots of USC connections, including many USC alumni involved. They do lots of cool stuff, including dark sky observing out in the country, astro photo contests, outreach activities in the community, and interesting presentations at their meetings. They always welcome involvement from USC students.  Learn more at midlandsastronomyclub.org.
 

Mailing Lists:

'scastro'  Mailing List:
This is a google groups mailing list that is used for general astro news at USC. It is primarily used for sharing info about the journal club, but also includes notices of nearby scientific meetings, public lectures, and other events. To join, send an email to [email protected].
 
'scastro-outreach' Mailing List:
Many times per year, we are contacted by local schools, clubs, and organizations looking for astronomy outreach support from USC. To support these activities, we have a portable planetarium, small solar telescopes, physics demos, and much more. If you are interested in serving the community by sharing astronomy to the public, please join our mailing list by sending an email to [email protected].
 

Volunteering:

Public Observing Nights at Melton Observatory:
If you have done backyard astronomy on your own or are interested in developing some technical observing skills, you should consider volunteering at Melton Observatory for the public observing sessions on clear Monday evenings. You would help set up the 8-inch Celestron telescopes (and occasionally the beastly C14) and find interesting things to view. You might also assist with the main 16-inch Cassegrain telescope in the big dome. It can be a great way to learn your way around the sky and pick up some basics of telescope design and operation. The current operating hours at Melton are 8:00-10:00 pm on clear Monday evenings. For more information and weekly weather updates, please visit the Melton Observatory website. If you are interested in volunteering, we ask that you send an email to [email protected].

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