FOTO

Welcome to the Friends of the Observatory (FOTO) talks page! These are a series of short, informal presentations on a variety of astronomy-related topics. These talks cover UMBC Observatory operations, backyard astronomy, physics demonstrations, and undergraduate research projects.

Open to the entire UMBC community, FOTO Talks are advertised on myUMBC. They provide FOTO members with opportunities to practice public speaking & science communication skills, and help recruit new observatory members. Each talk is recorded (slides, PDFs, visuals, etc.) for future reference. A core set of talks is offered each semester, with new topics regularly solicited. Talks are generally scheduled within weekday observatory working shifts (6-7 PM ET), with the schedule set by August 15th for Fall semesters and January 15th for Spring semesters. Each session consists of a 30-45 minute presentation, followed by Q&A and a recap.

For the 2025 Spring Semester, the topics are as follows:

Topic Speaker Date Time Materials*
The Celestial Sphere Percy Yu 2025-02-19 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM in PHYS 401 Slides
FITS Files with DS9 Sam Silva 2025-02-28 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM in PHYS 401 Slides
The Command Line Interface (CLI) Max Breitmeyer 2025-03-07 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM in PHYS 401 Slides
FITS Files with Python Vianne Stanford 2025-03-14 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM in PHYS 401 Slides
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) Gwyn Ellis 2025-03-26 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM in PHYS 401 Slides
Orbits Brayden Rosling 2025-04-01 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM in PHYS 401 Slides
Stellar Life Cycles Jade Dorsainvil 2025-04-22 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM in PHYS 401 Slides
Constellations Joyce Zheng 2025-04-24 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM in PHYS 401 Slides
Cosmic Distances Dylan Williamson 2025-05-02 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM in PHYS 401 Slides

*Materials available after the talk and revisions.

 

Show Past

Apr
1

FOTO: Orbits

Location

Physics : 401

Date & Time

April 1, 2025, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Description

UMBC Observatory Telescope Operations Coordinator: Brayden Rosling will be presenting on Orbits. During the talk, Brayden will focus on: what causes orbits orbital eccentricity orbital...

Apr
24

FOTO: Constellations

Location

Physics : 401

Date & Time

April 24, 2025, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Description

UMBC Observatory Student Worker Joyce Zheng will be presenting on constellations. During the talk, Joyce will focus on: What are constellations?  How do you find constellations? Origins of...

May
2

FOTO: Cosmic Distances

Location

Physics : 401

Date & Time

May 2, 2025, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Description

UMBC Observatory Student Worker Dylan Williamson will be presenting on cosmic distances. As with all FOTO presentations, the talk will run 30-40 minutes with 10-20 minutes each for questions...