University Dark Sky Astronomy Consortium 

THE CONSORTIUM

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UDSAC Organization 

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The University Dark Sky Astronomy Consortium will function as a student operated organization guided and mentored by the Member Faculties with oversight by the UDSAC Board of Directors. The Consortium will have standing committees that will generate and implement policies and conduct activities specific to their function.

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Standing committees of personnel from the Institutional membership will guide activities of the Consortium subject to approval by the UDSAC Board of Directors. The operation of the Consortium will be financially supported by the Annual Membership Fees.

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UDSAC Activities

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• Work and Study

Conduct educational and research activities remotely or on-sities under pristine dark skies.  

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• Informal Collaborative Studies

Students and professors of the member institutions can discuss astronomy interests and initiate collaborations on specific common problems with other institutional members.

 

• Coordinated Collaborative Studies

Studies initiated from informal collaborations may be brought to the attention of the Scientific Protocol Committee for approval. The proposed study protocol will be opened for feedback from the general institutional membership before final approval by the Scientific Protocol Committee. All participating individual participants and institutions will be given credits in any presentation or publication of the study.

 

• Annual UDSAC Conference

A UDSAC Conference will be be held each year at the Desert Museum Conference Center nearby the UDSAC Observatory Field. The work accomplished by UDSAC members will be presented in this conference and will be open to the general astronomy community.

 

• Community Outreach

Projects to raise the understanding of astronomy and the value of dark skies will be planned and carried out for the local Animas community, as well as for the communities local to the member institutions. These may range from simple star parties to formal lectures and interactive projects with the general public.

 

•  Astronomy Park

An Educational Astronomy Park is being planned for the western portion of the UDSAC property. This Park will service amateur astronomers, as well as, the general public. The underlying theme of the park is, “Dark Skies for All”. Institutional members will be encouraged to join in the planning of this Park.

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• UDSAC Picture of the Week

Astro-images produced by UDSAC members from their UDSAC observatory may be submitted for consideration as the Picture of the Week and published on the Home Page of the UDSAC website for a week before transfer to the website’s Gallery. 

 

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