The Last Stargazers is popular science writing for all who are spellbound by the night's sky.

Humans from the earliest civilizations through today have craned their necks each night, using the stars to orient themselves in the large, strange world around them. Stargazing is a pursuit that continues to fascinate us: from Copernicus to Carl Sagan, astronomers throughout history have spent their lives trying to answer the biggest questions in the universe. Now, award-winning astronomer Emily Levesque shares the stories of modern-day stargazers in this new nonfiction release, the people willing to adventure across high mountaintops and to some of the most remote corners of the planet, all in the name of science.

From the lonely quiet of midnight stargazing to tall tales of wild bears loose in the observatory, The Last Stargazers is a love letter to astronomy and an affirmation of the crucial role that humans can and must play in the future of scientific discovery.

In this sweeping work of narrative science, Levesque shows how astronomers in this scrappy and evolving field are going beyond the machines to infuse creativity and passion into the stars and space and inspires us all to peer skyward in pursuit of the universe's secrets. 

Emily Levesque is an astronomy professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. The Last Stargazers is an Amazon Best Book of 2020, a AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books Finalist, and a PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Finalist.

Emily's research studies how the most massive stars in the universe evolve and die. She has observed for upward of fifty nights on many of the planet’s largest telescopes and flown over the Antarctic stratosphere in an experimental aircraft for her research. Her academic accolades include the 2014 Annie Jump Cannon Prize, a 2017 Alfred P. Sloan fellowship, a 2019 Cottrell Scholar award, and the 2020 Newton Lacy Pierce Prize. She earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from MIT and a PhD in astronomy from the University of Hawaii.  emlevesque.com

Emily will be in conversation with Shannon Calvert who is a professional graphic artist / photographer and president of the Westport Astronomical Society, one of the largest astronomy clubs in the area. Shannon is a prolific astrophotographer, with an interest in stargazing and physics that stretches over three decades. The Westport Astronomical Society hosts free lectures from internationally recognized scientists every month and maintains an observatory site that features the largest telescope in Connecticut. The Westport Observatory is open to the public every Wednesday night from 8-10pm (if the sky is clear).  www.was-ct.org

Registration required.  Must have a Zoom account.  An email link will be provided to all registrants a few days before the event.