Vikki Zsohar
Profile Type: 
Astronomy Ambassador
Speaking Topics: 
Stellar Evolution the birth and Death of Stars (incl. Variable Stars)
Telescope 101
The Motion of the Earth and the Sky: Diurnal Motion, Zodiac, Coordinate Systems
Introduction to the Science of the Auroras
Centre Affiliation: 
Yukon
Other Astronomical Organizations: 
Yukon Astronomical Society
Email: 
zsohar@gmail.com
Telephone: 
250-408-4838
Can deliver other talks similar to the above: 
Yes
Willing to consider creating a custom presentation: 
Yes
Starting Airport: 
Whitehorse, YT
Regional Availability: 
Far North
Northern Alberta
Southern Alberta
Northern and Central BC
Lower Mainland
Victoria and Sunshine Coast
Target Audiences: 
General audiences (adults)
Astronomy enthusiasts
Languages: 
English only
I have been an amateur astronomer over 30 years on and off. My love of the stars always brought me back to under the night sky - with a telescope or binocular. I was 16 years old when I built my first telescope, a 4" Newtonian reflector. This telescope gave me a decade of joy observing the night sky and the Sun. Over the years, I built other reflectors, such as a 10" Newtonian, then in 2014, I built a high-quality 9" refractor telescope as well. Being a professional astronomer was out of my reach, but as a metallurgical engineer between 1996 and 2003 I gained knowledge in physics and chemistry of different kind of materials, and thus, I got a bit closer to gain understanding space science and astronomy, too.  I moved to Canada from Hungary in 2003. I am the founding member of the RASC Yukon Centre (2016) and the Yukon Astronomical Society (2015). Since 2015, I regularly host astronomy bi-weekly workshops at the Yukon College, for the members and visitors of the RASC Yukon Centre. I always write and perfect my own teaching material and presentations to the highest standards, and at the same time, I pay careful attention to the audience to whom I am teaching. My goal is that the material taught can be "digested" by the public, and the level of knowledge stays within the reach of the so called "popular astronomy." I also enjoy teaching to the members of the society and amateur astronomers, who are ususally "more savvy" in astronomy. I gained further teaching experience at the Yukon College, where I teach the non-credit 16-hour course, "The Universe from Your Backyard," seasonally. This course was the idea of others, however I wrote the entire curriculum by myself. I'd be happy to share my knowledge and experience and be more involved in astronomy education at schools, outreaches and other RASC centres My favourite topics are: "Stellar evolution", "Telescope 101", "Coordinate systems", "The Science of the Auroras" and planning to prepare teaching material about "History of Astronomy".