(cheerful music) - This summer is the perfect time to nurture your curiosity about the night sky.

The Utah Valley Astronomy Club focuses on community engagement and helps people discover science in a way that feels deeply connected to Utah's natural beauty.

Walter Williams is here now to chat about how the club expands access to astronomy.

Welcome.

- Welcome.

Thank you.

- So tell me about this club and why you decided to join.

- I have always been interested in astronomy, even from a young age, but I didn't own my own telescope until I was an adult, just because didn't have the means to do that.

But then when you do that and you start wanting to do things like astrophotography and whatnot, you just naturally want to find other people that are involved with that.

- And is there something about kind of being in a communal space with like-minded people who enjoy the same thing, enjoying astronomy?

- Absolutely, it is so fun to be in that atmosphere, to be at a star party, and people, you know, to be, one, with friends, but also with strangers who come along and they just have that initial interest.

- So what are some of the things that the club does or puts on?

- We do star parties, which are basically events where people come to look through telescopes.

Generally open to the public, but also some private ones.

We have a monthly meeting at Utah Valley University in the planetarium on the second Thursday of each month.

- And what is that like, gathering for those meetings?

- It's, again, it's a fun thing.

We usually have a speaker that will do a presentation, and then, usually, afterwards we'll go to a local restaurant just to socialize.

- I love that.

Now, I know some people probably watching are asking, "Do you have to own your own telescope to be a part of the club?"

- Absolutely not.

In fact, a lot of the, I would say probably a lot of people that associate themselves with the club don't have a telescope.

- All right, well, thank you so much.

If you would like to participate, we've got more information about the Utah Valley Astronomy Club on your screen.

You can head to their website.

It's uvac.us.

I'm Liz Adeola, and thank you for watching "Contact."

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