Astronomy on Tap - Santa Barbara

Free, short, public, astronomy-related presentations in a bar

Held at M8RX, 409 State St., Santa Barbara, 7:30-9:30 PM

Roughly every month we have two astronomers speak about their research. We also cover the latest astronomy in the news, give out prizes and more! No prior knowledge needed, must be 21 or older to enter.

We were mentioned on local NPR station KCLU, read and hear all about us!

View pictures of our events on our Facebook page and videos of them on our YouTube channel!
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Upcoming Event:

December 5th, 2018

Etienne Bachelet of LCO on The Microlensing Odyssey

Kristina Davis of UCSB on Astronomical Ballooning from Antarctica

Hosted by Andy Howell of LCO and Isabel Lipartito of UCSB

Past Events:

October 3rd, 2018

Emanuele Paolo Farina (UCSB) on Supermassive Black Holes

Tim Lister (LCO) on the future of New Horizons

Hosted by Andy Howell of LCO and Isabel Lipartito of UCSB

Photos

September 5th, 2018

Dan Read (Cardiff University) on My Attraction to Magnets

Benny Tsang (UCSB) on Building Super Star Clusters on Supercomputers

Photos

August 1st, 2018

Maria Drout (Carnegie Observatories) on Explosions in Space.
Tobias Schmidt (UCSB) on Spectroscopy: Telling you how the Universe really works.

Photos

June 6th, 2018

Roger Freedman (UCSB) on what Newton never knew about gravity.
Julio Navarro (University of Victoria) on Dark Matter.

Photos | Video

May 2nd, 2018

Rebecca Larson (UT Austin) on seeing the Universe in infrared light.
Iair ("ya-eer") Arcavi (UCSB and LCO) on what astronomy is good for.

Photos | Video

April 4th, 2018

Chuck McPartlin (SBAU) on amateur astronomy and its contributions to science.
Greg Salvesen (UCSB) on astronomy sonifications.
Photos | Video

March 7th, 2018 - Second Year Anniversary Special!

Isabel Lipartito (UCSB) on taking pictures of extra-solar planets.
Monica Turner (LCO) on things launched into space (from Sputnik to a Tesla Roadster).
Photos | Video

February 7th, 2018

Joey Chatelain (LCO) on the Cassini mission to Saturn.
Fred Davies (UCSB) on growing supermassive black holes.
Photos | Video

December 6th, 2017

Duncan Brown (Syracuse University) on the discovery of gravitational waves from a neutron star merger.
Andy Howell (LCO & UCSB) on the discovery of a kilonova from a neutron star merger.
Photos | Video

July 12th, 2017

Jeff Silverman (Samba TV) on dark energy and the expanding Universe.
Rachael Livermore (UT Austin) on the science of Star Trek.
Photos | Video

June 14th, 2017

Brian Haworth and Eric Saunders (LCO) on what it takes to run a worldwide observatory.
Sally Shaw (UCSB) on hunting for dark matter under ground.
Photos | Video

May 10th, 2017

Tim Lister (LCO) on near earth asteroids, threats or treasures?
Kevin Bundy (UCSC) on "undead" galaxies.
Photos | Video

April 5th, 2017

Ylva Gotberg (University of Amsterdam) on binary stars and the re-ionization of the Universe.
Andy Howell (LCO & UCSB) on the great American solar eclipse of 2017.
Photos | Video

March 1st, 2017 - One Year Anniversary Special!

Curtis McCully, Sara Greenstreet, Rachel Street, Charlotte Mason, Todd Boroson, Nikolas Volgenau, Etienne Bachelet, Griffin Hosseinzadeh, Tim Lister, Greg Salvesen and Iair ("ya-eer") Arcavi (LCO/UCSB) presenting astounding facts about the Universe and how we observe it.
Photos | Video

January 18th, 2017

Mike McCourt (UCSB) on the fog surrounding galaxies.
Greg Salvesen (UCSB) on black holes.
Photos | Video

November 16th, 2016

Sarah Greenstreet (LCO & UCSB) on Pluto and friends in the outer solar system.
Bill Wolf (UCSB) on classical novae: inside-out stars evolving in reverse.
Photos | Video

October 5th, 2016

Matt Coleman (UCSB) on dwarf novea: the hiccups of vampire stars.
Phil Lubin (UCSB) on the Project Starshot and DEEP-IN interstellar missions.
Photos | Video

September 7th, 2016

Rachel Street (LCO) on using microlensing to find extra solar planets.
Griffin Hosseinzadeh (LCO & UCSB) on supernovae and how to catch them.
Photos | Video

July 27th, 2016

Haley Gomez (Cardiff University) on dust and the stolen starlight.
Edward Gomez (LCO) on the story of "Jack Photon: Cosmic Explorer".
Photos | Video

June 8th, 2016

Charlotte Mason (UCSB) on the first galaxies in the Universe.
Rob Siverd (LCO) on discovering planets around other stars.
Photos | Video

May the 4th, 2016 - Star Wars Special!

Andy Howell (LCO & UCSB) and Chelsey Harris (UC Berkeley) on the Science of Star Wars and The Force Awakens.
Photos | Video

April 6th, 2016

Curtis McCully (LCO & UCSB) on rewatching a supernova through a gravitational lens.
Iair ("ya-eer") Arcavi (LCO & UCSB) on stars being torn apart by supermassive black holes.
Photos | Video

March 2nd, 2016

Matteo Cantiello (UCSB) on using waves to see inside stars.
Andy Howell (LCO & UCSB) on dark energy and the expansion of the Universe.
Photos