An Honor and a Privilege: Closing My Chapter as Vice President of the LVAS Education Outreach Program

This is, quite possibly, the hardest post I have ever written on this blog.

This month I submitted my resignation as Vice President of the Education Outreach Program of the Las Vegas Astronomical Society, a position I have had the honor of holding since 2018.

Thank You for the Trust

I want to start with what matters most: gratitude. This position is not inherited or handed out; it is decided by election every two years. Receiving the vote of confidence of the association's members, election after election, throughout all these years, has been one of the greatest honors of my life. Every vote was a reminder of the responsibility I carried — and of the affection of this community.

Thank You to the Volunteers

To every volunteer who has been part of this program: thank you from the bottom of my heart. Nothing we accomplished would have been possible without you. Every star party, every event at libraries, parks, and schools, every telescope set up under the desert sky carries your fingerprints. You are, and always will be, the soul of this program.

Thank You, Stephen

I want to give a very special mention to Stephen Alan Bock, the Vice President who came before me. In 2018, Stephen gave me something money can't buy: the confidence in myself to begin this adventure. Without that push, none of this would have happened. Thank you, my friend.

A Road I Never Imagined

When I became a member of this association back in 2012, I never thought or imagined that I would have the opportunity to serve the Southern Nevada community in this way. From 2018 until today it has been many years, many nights, many faces lit up while looking through a telescope for the first time. It has been an honor and a privilege, followed by an extraordinary experience I will carry with me always.

The Why

Since this blog is my most personal space, I want to share the why in more detail.

A series of radical changes in my life, both professional and personal, have brought me to this crossroads. The biggest of them: I am part of the group building Nevada's first telescope farm, Death Valley Observatories, in Amargosa Valley. A project of this magnitude demands constant effort and a daily presence — not to mention the distance from Las Vegas. Between the farm and the city lie desert, miles, and hours that no longer allow me to support the program properly and with the dedication it deserves. And this program, and this community, deserve nothing less than full dedication. Out of respect for both, I am taking this step.

And why there, in the middle of the desert? Because in Death Valley, the night sky offers infinitely more than just darkness — it offers clarity, depth, and time.

• New Moon? Chances are high for clear skies: this region has among the lowest cloud cover in the United States.
• Photographing galaxies? Average atmospheric seeing here ranks among the finest nationwide, giving sharper, steadier views.
• Hunting faint molecular clouds? Sky darkness reaches 21.97 mag/arcsec² — close to the natural limit of Earth's night sky.
• Worried about optics fogging? Don't be: with some of the lowest humidity levels on the planet, your equipment stays clear all night.
• And surrounded by unobstructed horizons, every night offers more usable hours to explore the cosmos.

In the end, I am not stepping away from the mission — I am stepping closer to the sky. Everything I learned and lived at the LVAS comes with me into this new chapter.

This Is Not Goodbye

I will remain connected to the association as a member. I will remain under the same sky, looking up, sharing the same sense of wonder that has been with me since I was a child.

And speaking of that wonder: I want to thank my mother, who at age six sparked in me a love for the universe, and my sisters, patient and enthusiastic companions through so many nights under the stars. Everything I have done in these years was born from that support and that love.

Thank you for everything, Las Vegas Astronomical Society.

It has been an honor and a privilege.

Clear skies,