Arizona Science and Astronomy Expo: Tucson, Nov. 16 and 17

[UPDATE (Nov. 15, 2013): Due to an illness, I have had to cancel my appearance at ASAE. I am very, very sorry about this, and I urge everyone in the area to go anyway and enjoy yourselves. I really wish I could go â I'd love to attend this again, and I've already missed two chances in the past to meet Story Musgrave, dagnappit â but it's probably better I not spread the plague to everyone attending. I'll be better in a few days, I'm sure, but the timing for this is rotten. Again, my apologies.]

If youâre within a couple of hundred light years of Tucson, Arizona this Nov. 16 and 17, you should seriously consider attending the Science and Astronomy Expo being held at the convention center there. There will be talks by world-renowned speakers, panel discussions, over a hundred vendors, and a whole passel of special events.

Iâll be there, on a panel talking about science education with my friends Carin Bondar, Emily Lakdawalla, Amy Shira Teitel, Michael Belfiore, and NASA's own Lauren Worley, moderated by Meteorite Man Geoff Notkin. Thatâll be fun, as we dissect the future of space exploration and how to use it to make more little scientists.

Iâm also looking forward to seeing Stephen Ramsden again, who runs a fantastic solar observing session with some magnificent telescopes. Seriously, the view of the Sun through this equipment is life-changing. You can see sunspots, twisting plumes of million-degree plasma, and more. The picture here is one I took through one of his âscopes at DragonCon this year â I simply help my iPhone up the eyepiece and snapped a shot. The eyeball view is way better.

The whole thing is run by my old friend Alan Traino; the first expo was last year and he did a fantastic job organizing it. This year will be even better.

Tickets are $10 each day and kids under 12 get in free. If you do Facebook, thereâs lots of info and updates there as well.