Admission:
Event: $10.00 | Members & Children: Free
Event & Dinner*: $41.95
*Extend your time with us and enjoy a meal in our historic, lakeside Dining Hall. Click below to register for this event and see the option to buy a ticket “with Meal.” Advance registration is required to add a meal as space is limited and subject to availability.
The Sagamore Seminars education series is offered by Sagamore Institute of the Adirondacks, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization chartered by the Board of Regents of the Education Department of the State of New York and sole owner and operator of Great Camp Sagamore.
Astronomer Aileen O'Donoghue invites us to reconsider what darkness truly is—and why it matters. Tracing its origins in cosmic history, she explores the idea that darkness is not simply the absence of light, but a presence with its own meaning and power. From the formation of the universe to the rhythms that govern life on Earth, this thought-provoking program examines how we experience darkness and why both humans and the natural world depend on cycles of light and dark. Drawing connections between astronomy and monastic traditions, O’Donoghue reflects on how seekers of scientific discovery and spiritual insight alike enter darkness in pursuit of understanding—revealing that sometimes it is the light itself that hides what only darkness can illuminate. Join us for the presentation and stargazing!
Aileen O’Donoghue - Astronomer
Aileen A. O’Donoghue is the Henry Priest Professor of Physics at St. Lawrence University. She received an Associate of Arts degree at Colorado Mountain College that propelled her to earning her B.S. at Fort Lewis College and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. Her research is primarily in radio astronomy and she has conducted observations with the Very Large Array, Arecibo and Green Bank radio telescopes. She has also observed dwarf galaxies in the visible band at the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope and the optical spectra of stars using the 90” Bok telescope at Kitt Peak and the 1.5 m telescope at Cerro Tololo, Chile. She is currently a member of the ALFALFA undergraduate team studying galaxies in the Pisces-Perseus Superlcuster using radio, optical, and IR observations. Aileen is also a NASA Solar System Ambassador and a board member of the Adirondack Sky Center and Observatory in Tupper Lake, NY.