Astronomy on Tap STL

10/08/2026

What do cosmic rays and blazars have in common? Both are remarkably good at making astrophysicists excited and everyone else nervous...

Join us for High Energy Horrors, our Halloween edition of Astronomy on Tap St. Louis! WashU Physics grad students Nicole Osborn and Ben de Jonge will reveal how some of the Universe’s most extreme phenomena become powerful tools for understanding it.

Time: Tuesday, October 13, at 7 pm
Location: Urban Chestnut Brewing Company, The Grove

Two talks, Halloween-themed astronomy trivia, and prizes… Come for the scares. Leave with a better understanding of the Universe!

03/06/2026

🌸 Astronomy on Tap St. Louis – Spring Equinox Party! 🌸

Celebrate the Spring Equinox with us at a special Astronomy on Tap event!

This month’s fascinating talks will be given by WashU Satellite Club members, who will present three of their satellite missions: AIRIS, SCALAR, and VECTOR. Learn how student-built spacecraft are designed, developed, and launched to advance space science and engineering.

🛰 VECTOR – A First Responder in Space
Sophie Fendler will introduce a satellite designed to rapidly search for optical afterglows and alert larger observatories, helping scientists respond quickly to the universe’s most energetic events.

🛰 SCALAR – Steering with Earth’s Magnetic Field
Jesse Myoung will present a mission testing magnetorquers that use Earth’s magnetic field to control and stabilize a tumbling satellite.

🛰 AIRIS – Hunting Cosmic Explosions from Antarctica
Aavik Wadivkar will discuss a balloon mission over Antarctica that detects gamma-ray bursts and rapidly points a telescope to capture their fading afterglows.

🎤 Engaging talks
🌌 Astro trivia
🎁 Surprise prizes

Free and open to everyone. Bring your friends and celebrate the equinox with space science and good company.

📅 March 24
⏰ 7:00 PM
📍 Urban Chestnut – The Grove Bierhall – Meeting Room

03/02/2026

🌸 Astronomy on Tap St. Louis – Spring Equinox Party! 🌸

Celebrate the Spring Equinox with us at a special Astronomy on Tap event!

This month’s fascinating talks will be given by WashU Satellite Club members, who will present three of their satellite missions: AIRIS, SCALAR, and VECTOR. Learn how student-built spacecraft are designed, developed, and launched to advance space science and engineering.

🛰 Short, engaging talks
🌌 Astro trivia
🎁 Surprise prizes

Free and open to everyone. Bring your friends and celebrate the equinox with space science and good company.

📅 March 24
⏰ 7:00 PM
📍 Urban Chestnut – The Grove Bierhall – Meeting Room

02/24/2026

02/24/2026

🌌 Is there really a black hole at the center of our galaxy?
Join us for an extraordinary evening with Nobel Laureate Andrea Ghez, whose groundbreaking work helped prove the existence of a supermassive black hole at the center of our universe.
🗓 Thursday, March 26, 2026
🕖 7:00 PM
📍 Whitaker 100, WashU
In this public lecture, Ghez will share the journey from possibility to certainty — how decades of precise measurements and perseverance revealed what was once invisible.
Free and open to the public.
More info: https://tinyurl.com/AndreaGhez
Come early. Bring a friend. Prepare to have your mind expanded.

02/24/2026

🌌 Is there really a black hole at the center of our galaxy?

Join us for an extraordinary evening with Nobel Laureate Andrea Ghez, whose groundbreaking work helped prove the existence of a supermassive black hole at the center of our universe.

🗓 Thursday, March 26, 2026
🕖 7:00 PM
📍 Whitaker 100, WashU

In this public lecture, Ghez will share the journey from possibility to certainty — how decades of precise measurements and perseverance revealed what was once invisible.

Free and open to the public.
More info: https://mcss.wustl.edu/events/2026-mcdonnell-distinguished-lectures-public-lecture-andrea-ghez-possibility-certainty-supermassive

Come early. Bring a friend. Prepare to have your mind expanded.

11/08/2025

🌌 Astronomy on Tap St. Louis is back!
This month’s theme is Running Cosmos.exe — how we use computers to understand the wildest objects in the universe. Join us for science, b**r, and good company. 🍻✨

⭐ Dr. Yajie Yuan — Feeding the Beast: How Black Holes Dine and Shine
How do black holes “eat” and why do they glow? We’ll look at simulations and real images to see gas swirling around black holes in action. 🔥🕳️

⭐ Dr. Alex Chen — Pulsars, the Lighthouses of the Cosmos
Pulsars are fast-spinning stellar remnants with extreme magnetic fields. Learn how we detect their flashes and uncover what they’re made of. 🌟🛰️

🎉 Astro Trivia with prizes after the talks!

📍 Event Details
• Date: November 18
• Time: 6:00 PM
• Location: Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. — The Grove Meeting Room
• Admission: Free (21+ to drink)

Come for the b**r. Stay for the universe.
See you there, St. Louis. 🌙🍺