Talk: Celestial Navigation

Joseph Wright, operations manager at the Warkoczewski Public Observatory at the University of Missouri-Kansas City since 2005 and president of the National Sharing the Sky Foundation, discusses the significance of using celestial navigation with a demonstration to follow his talk.

When not sharing the sky with students and visitors,Joseph Wrightspends part of his time on staff at Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona working as an Education Specialist in astronomy at the Mt. Lemmon observatory complex. He assists with teen astronomy camps and adult workshops for Girl Scout professionals and volunteers teaching hands-on activities and telescope observing. Wright had the opportunity of a lifetime when his proposal was accepted by NASA and the SETI Institute to informally teach InfraRed astronomy. Part of this training also included several mission flights aboard SOFIA, the airborne observatory for infrared astronomy flying over an altitude of 45,000 feet. Wright was also responsible for coordinating and training seven research sites across Kansas and Missouri for the 2017 Great American Total Solar Eclipse.