CRANBERRY, Pa. (EYT) — The Oil Region Astronomy Learning Center will host a presentation by Mr. Tim DeBenedictis, Senior Developer for Celestron and SkySafari, on Saturday, April 13.
His presentation titled, “Origins: A Personal Journey in Astronomical Imaging” with Tim’s journey as a Celestron Origin Telescope developer and new technologies supporting amateur astronomers globally.
Public Night Schedule
• 6:30 PM – Learning Center Opens for those joining in person (visit www.oras.org for directions to the Observatory)
• 6:50 PM – 7:00 PM: Zoom Session Opens – Opportunity for Tech-Check to make sure your system is working. (The link will be emailed to you after you register)
• 7:00 PM – 7:10 PM: ORAS News and Updates
• 7:10 PM – 8:00 PM: Education Presentation: Origins: a personal journey in astronomical imaging
• 8:30 – 10:30 PM: Observing through ORAS Telescopes (Weather permitting).
There will be no observation if it’s cloudy or raining.
About the Presenter
Mr. Tim DeBenedictis is a patented software architect whose work focuses primarily in the areas of space and astronomy.
Tim owes his success to his exposure to software development in many diverse fields, from digital audio to e-commerce security to compiler front ends. He’s worked at two-person startups and Fortune 500 companies and has grown his own app business into a telescope industry standard, negotiated its sale, and launched his own crowd-funded CubeSat into orbit with the proceeds.
Tim fits into a lot of boxes.
If you have a challenge involving image processing or high-performance computing, or if you want to help to turn your wild ideas into a business—especially if they involve space or astronomy—he’s probably interested.
Tim is an architect who loves seeing plans become reality and enjoys helping organizations grow, by establishing solid software engineering practices and good team methodologies. While Tim is probably best known for the development of SkySafari, more recently he worked with Celestron to develop their new Origin Telescope. For fun, Tim enjoys backpacking, cycling, hiking, photography (terrestrial and astronomical), and international travel, including Antarctica!
The Presentation
Tim will highlight his personal journey in the development of Celestron’s new Origin Telescope, as well as talk more generally about his process when it comes to the development of new technologies like SkySafari.
A Q&A session will follow the presentation. This is a great time to share with Tim your own ideas for new technology needed by the amateur astronomy community.
Who can attend?
Anyone who is interested in learning more about ORAS and astronomy-related topics may attend.
Members of the general public and educators and students from surrounding schools are strongly encouraged to participate.
Public nights are free and open to all.