San Francisco State Presents 'Everyday Astronomy' Class

Press release from San Francisco State:

Sept. 19, 2022

Tuesdays from 12:30 to 2:30 pm via Zoom (Oct. 11 – Nov. 15, 2022)

This 12-hour, 6-week course, for beginners, will examine the many aspects of our everyday lives that are intimately connected with the Sun, Moon, and the sky. Using everyday language, analogies, humor, and lots of visual aids, we will see how our sense of time, motion, seasons, and light and dark all stem from the way the Earth interacts with the other worlds in our neighborhood.

We’ll examine where the idea of a day, week, month and year come from, how eclipses happen (and which spectacular eclipses are coming to the US soon), how fast you actually move in the cosmos when you are sitting still, why the motion of the Moon is still changing, why the Earth has seasons when other planets don’t, whether supermoons and blood moons should cause you worry, why the zodiac ain’t what it used to be, and much more. We’ll also lay to rest some folk wisdom that is not so wise, including full-moon madness, the flat-Earth delusion, and the idea that the planets can affect your destiny (astrology). Still, you’ll finish with a new awareness of how much cosmic cycles and cosmic events are part of your life.

Andrew Fraknoi retired as the Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College in 2017. He was selected the California Professor of the Year in 2007 by the Carnegie Endowment and has won several national prizes for his teaching. He is the lead author of OpenStax Astronomy, a free, electronic textbook in astronomy, which has now been used by 700,000+ students. He has also written books for teachers, children, and the public. He appears regularly on local & national radio, explaining astronomical ideas in terms everyone can understand. The International Astronomical Union has named Asteroid 4859 Asteroid Fraknoi to recognize his contributions to the public appreciation of science. See: http://fraknoi.com for more information about his work.

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Francisco State is a community of inquiring adults, age 50+, offering non-credit courses, lectures, and interest groups. Many are held remotely, so you don’t need to reside in San Francisco to participate. You must become a member of the Institute to take the class.

Three easy steps to register:

1. Sign in or create a free account at: https://www.campusce.net/sfsu/account/signin.aspx
2. Join the Institute at: https://olli.sfsu.edu/membership (a modest fee)
3. Register for the class at: https://www.campusce.net/sfsu/course/course.aspx?C=911&pc=94&mc=0&sc=0 (Fee: $125)

For Questions, contact: olli@sfsu.edu

This press release was produced by San Francisco State. The views expressed here are the author's own.