Our Crowdfunding Groups
Help bring the wonders of the night sky to the University of Memphis and beyond! We are fundraising to build a Sidewalk Astronomy program for the UofM. Sidewalk Astronomy uses high-quality, modern telescopes and filters to bring observing opportunities out of the classroom and laboratory to where the people are. UofM Sidewalk Astronomy will use your donation to purchase a portable telescope to allow astronomy faculty, graduate, and undergraduate student volunteers from the Department of Physics and Materials Science to bring live astronomical observing directly to community events, schools, and places around campus.
Your donations will help to give undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to develop their public communication skills, and introduce the UofM community and Memphians outside of campus to the next generation of physicists and astronomers in a casual, friendly environment.
To do this, we will need to purchase some observing equipment. First and foremost is the telescope: an 8" diameter, portable Schmidt-Cassegrain reflecting telescope that can be packed for transport in a protective case. With a solar filter, we will not only be able to run observations when the sun has set, but also observe the beautiful details of the sun's surface during the day. With a partial solar eclipse visible from Memphis on April 8, 2024, and a rare comet making it's closest approach to Earth in 71 years on June 2, 2024, we will have some phenomenal opportunities to show our community with their own eyes how stunning and awe-inspiring our universe is.
On any voyage through the universe, you must start close to home. Our home is on planet Earth, and your donation of $20 can help us begin our journey.
The stars of the universe are the furnaces where all of the chemical elements heavier than hydrogen are formed. Help us forge our Sidewalk Astronomy program with your donation of $50.
Giant, cold nebula are the birthplaces of stars, where thousands of new stars first ignite. Help us ignite curious young minds with your donation of $100.
The Milky Way Galaxy is the home to our solar system and billions of other stars and planets. With your donation of $200, we can show the public some of the best sights in our Galaxy.
Our galaxy lives in a massive collection of galaxies, called the Laniakea Supercluster. With over 100,000 galaxies living in it, it is one of the largest objects in the known universe. With your donation of $500, you can become one of the largest donors in our project!
The cosmos contains everything we can see, and everything that will ever interact with us. It is the sum total of all that we know exists. With a generous donation of $1000, you can help expand minds to a cosmic level.
