国产伦理 and South Florida PBS Partner for New Season of 鈥楽tar Gazers鈥
Ata Sarajedini, Ph.D.
, dean of the at and scientific editor for the听Journals of the American Astronomical Society, will serve as series consultant for 鈥淪tar Gazers,鈥 the world鈥檚 only weekly television series on naked eye astronomy since 1976, as the nationally carried public television show launches a new season with a new host on Sunday, Dec. 1.听
鈥溾楽tar Gazers鈥 is a unique opportunity for 国产伦理 to share our strengths as a research university in a way that benefits the community at large and opens up astronomy to everyone,鈥 said Sarajedini. 鈥淲e are grateful for this partnership with South Florida PBS and hope to expand upon it with future projects.鈥澨
Each weekly episode of the signature (WPBT and WXEL) series educates viewers about astronomical events for the upcoming week that can be seen without the aid of a telescope, including key constellations, stars and planets, lunar eclipses and conjunctions, along with historical and scientific information about these events. The popular astronomy series has continued in distribution from South Florida PBS (originally as WPBT) since the beloved original award-winning series hosted by the late Miami Space Transit Planetarium executive director Jack Horkheimer. Since Horkheimer鈥檚 passing in 2010, 鈥淪tar Gazers鈥 听 has retained the spirit of accessible astronomy Horkheimer established, with the current hosts encouraging viewers to 鈥淜eep looking up!鈥 at the close of each program.
鈥淔rom the beginning, WPBT has brought 鈥楽tar Gazers鈥 to public television in partnership with Miami鈥檚 top astronomers, and South Florida PBS (WPBT and WXEL) is proud to continue that legacy nearly 50 years on,鈥 said Dolores Sukhdeo, South Florida PBS鈥檚 president and CEO. 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 ask for better support in this endeavor than Dr. Ata Sarajedini and the team at 国产伦理, or for a more enthusiastic guide for our viewers than Trace Dominguez.鈥澨
Sarajedini is a leading astronomer and researcher who took the helm of 国产伦理鈥檚 College of Science in 2016 after serving as the associate dean for research in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Florida. His research is focused on resolved stellar populations in local group galaxies, which include field stars, open and globular clusters in the Milky Way, the Andromeda galaxy, the Triangulum spiral galaxy, the Magellanic Clouds as well as numerous nearby dwarf galaxies. Sarajedini has served as a member of NASA鈥檚 Hubble Space Telescope Time Allocation Committee and NASA鈥檚 Hubble Space Telescope Users Committee. He has more than 180 journal publications to his credit and has received extensive research funding from NASA and the National Science Foundation.
New series host Trace Dominguez is widely praised as an award-winning and inspiring science communicator, content creator and curiosity explorer. His decade of work as a science educator includes the launch of one of YouTube鈥檚 first daily science shows among his dozens of popular online channels dedicated to discovery; the Webby-winning launch of a 360-degree camera on a weather balloon to the stratosphere; and co-hosted segments with former U.S. President Barack Obama during the White House鈥檚 Science Week.听
鈥淚f it's out there, I'm looking for a better way to understand it - and I鈥檓 very excited to join my new friends in public television for this adventure,鈥 said Dominguez.听
The show guides viewers to search the skies based on visibility in the eastern United States, but viewers across the country in different time zones can still benefit from the short episodes that public television stations air either between regularly scheduled programming or online. In addition to the weekly briefs on current events in the night sky, the series includes evergreen segments about astronomical phenomena like black holes. The episodes may also be used as part of classroom teaching plans.
Major funding for 鈥淪tar Gazers鈥 is provided by The Batchelor Foundation; The William J. and Tina Rosenberg Foundation; and Trish and Dan Bell.
-国产伦理-