Friday, Sept 11, 2026, 7 pm, location Memorial High School
Keith Swartz
Telescopes come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Changing their shape and size is not easy, if possible at all, but Keith Swartz tells the story about how he modified his homemade 10-inch Dobsonian telescope to better suit his needs. Following the tradition of a few recent speakers, he will also share a bit about his journey with this great hobby.
(more…)Friday, Aug 14, 2026, 7 pm, location Memorial High School
Zach Holcomb
Zach is a biochemist who spends his days navigating the complexities of pharmaceutical research and development. His work spans the lifecycle of complex injectable drugs, from initial R&D and FDA approval to commercial manufacturing. When the sun goes down, he trades the microscope for the telescope. A self-proclaimed “astronomical insomniac,” Zach specializes in deep-sky imaging with a particular focus on planetary nebulae, driven by the persistent hope of capturing something the world hasn’t seen before.
(more…)Friday, July 10, 2026, 7 pm, location Memorial High School
Zoe Todd
UW Madison
Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Astronomy
For centuries, humanity has been grappling with the fundamental question: are we alone in the universe? The origins of life on Earth and the search for life on other planets are important scientific topics now within our grasp to potentially answer.
(more…)Friday, June 12, 2026, 7 PM, location: Theater 300 in Memorial High School
MAS is proud to announce a new partnership with the MMSD Planetarium at Memorial High School in Madison!
The June 2026 meeting of the Madison Astronomical Society will be the first meeting in our new location.
The meeting will start in Theater 300 (directions and map below).
(more…)Friday, May 8, 2026, 7 PM, UW Space Place
Rick Wayne
Outreach Coordinator
Rick will moderate a discussion panel of eyepiece observers and astrophotography enthusiasts. This is a classic “clash of the titans” in the amateur astronomy world! You have the Visual Purists, who value the raw, photons-to-retina experience, and the Astro-Imagers, who are essentially part-time software engineers and heavy machinery operators. Come join us for a meetup between the ancient art of the “averted vision” squint and the modern science of the 12-hour exposure.
(more…)Friday, Apr 10, 2026, 7 PM, UW Space Place
Maxwell Kroft
UW PhD student
How do astronomers discover and characterize exoplanets? It’s not as straightforward as spotting them with a telescope, like you do with stars on a clear night in a park. In this presentation, Max will delve into the methods astronomers employ to measure various aspects of exoplanets, primarily by observing their impact on their host stars. He’ll also share his research on exoplanets conducted using the WIYN 3.5m telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona.
(more…)Friday, Mar 13, 2026, 7 PM, UW Space Place
Mistakes and Second Chances
John Rummel
Photographic mistakes take many different forms. Some can be very expensive. Like when you’ve traveled thousands of miles to be in the exact location, at the exact time, to take a very specific shot. When you screw it up, second chances can be difficult to arrange, or may just be impossible.
In this March meeting presentation, John Rummel will talk about a multi-year plan to be in that spot, to take THAT shot, and how it all went wrong.
(more…)Friday, Feb 13, 2026, 7 PM, UW Space Place
By sharing their personal stories of how their interest in astronomy began and how, 4,000 miles apart, those stories led them to MAS and a lasting friendship, Avtar and Jeff hope to engage the audience in a conversation about their own beginnings and journeys into amateur astronomy.
Special treat – Avtar and Jeff will bring their first telescopes (which both still have) to share with the audience.
(more…)Friday, Jan 9, 2026, 7:00 PM, UW Space Place
The design for this unusual telescope, which features a polar-aligned, fixed eyepiece, takes me back several decades. At the time, I was investigating warmed-room observatories, many of which had been featured in the well-known Amateur Telescope Making book series (three volumes). One of the simplest of these had been constructed by Russell W. Porter (1871–1949), principal founder of the amateur telescope making movement, which (in the U.S.) began in the early twentieth century.
(more…)Friday, Dec 12, 2025, 7:00 PM – UW Space Place
Our December meeting is our annual “telescope clinic” where we invite anyone to bring their troublesome or confusing telescopes to the meeting. Our members will assist you in understanding how they work and diagnosing (and even fixing) any problems you’ve encountered. Also, refreshments!
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