Monsoon Workshop 2025

Catalina Sky Survey holds its annual Monsoon Workshop during the summer shutdown in Arizona. Over several previous years, CSS has been grateful for the participation of Spacewatch and other colleagues at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) of the University of Arizona. Last year, we added a day of hybrid talks from the broader NEO community and Planetary Defenders everywhere.

In 2025, the Monsoon Workshop will be jointly held with the ADASSx Software Workshop following the Rubin Community Workshop. The two-day planetary defense activities will include a tour of the CSS telescopes on Mount Lemmon on Saturday, August 2, 2025, followed by workshop presentations on Sunday, August 3, at LPL on the campus of the University of Arizona. The schedule will be similar to last year, with four ~ 1.5-hour sessions and open discussions following each session. A final agenda with additional details will be released as the workshop nears.

Use the same portals as ADASSx for (free) registration and abstract submission. Planetary Defense topics with a software emphasis are also welcome during the plenary ADASSx sessions on Monday/Tuesday, August 4-5.

Send questions to rseaman@arizona.edu.

Details to come

These are largely the same as for ADASS 2023, which was also held on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson. When finished, use the back arrow to return to the ADASSx webpages.

Coming soon

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        Special events for ADASSx 2025 will include tours on Saturday, August 2nd, of the Catalina Sky Survey facilities on Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. The CSS 60" survey telescope has discovered more than 12,000 near-Earth Asteroids, hundreds of comets (including many near-Earth comets), five small impactors, and two mini-moons. The 40" telescope next door dominates rapid astrometric follow-up of candidate NEAs, as well as second apparition recovery of known NEAs with poorly known orbits.

        Coordinated operations between these two telescopes, as well as our wide-field Schmidt telescope and the deep-field Kuiper telescope on neighboring Mount Bigelow relies on diverse software tools such as CSS's NEOfixer targeting broker, which ranks the priority and the exposure cost (not just for CSS telescopes, but for many others in the community) for the growing catalog of ever-shifting NEOs and the constantly fluctuating list of NEO candidates.

        Nightly astrometric measurements, images, catalogs, and other data products flow automatically to the IAU Minor Planet Center and the Small Bodies Node of the Planetary Data Center, funded by NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office.

        Planning is in progress for a conference reception on Friday evening, August 1st, and a banquet on Monday, August 4th. Details soon!

It is perhaps not widely known that Tucson was the first UNESCO City of Gastronomy designated in the United States. ADASSx attendees are encouraged to explore the Old Pueblo's many creative restaurants, whether on the list below or not.

ADASSx will provide a mid-morning coffee buffet and an afternoon snack break between sessions. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are the attendees' choice. Many restaurants are within walking distance of the conference venue or are just a few stops away along the free Streetcar line. For those in a hurry, several quick and inexpensive options are on the second and third floors of the SUMC, steps away from the ADASSx sessions. Restaurant hours vary seasonally, so please verify that your choice is open first.

Dining reachable by walking or Streetcar falls into five general zones.

1. On and near campus
   • Watch out for the AI-piloted robots. I, for one, welcome our new food delivery overlords!
   • Corks & Craft at the southwest corner of the "SUMC Canyon" (labeled "The Scoop" on the out-of-date map) may be the only place on campus to get carded. "Burgers, charcuterie, gourmet grilled cheese. Wine and local beers," according to Reddit.
   • Staying at Aloft? Try Miss Saigon or Trident Grill.
   • Couldn't reserve (or afford) a casita at the Arizona Inn? Have a cocktail on the Audubon Patio or hobnob with the plumed snowbirds in the Main Dining Room.
2. Main Gate
   • ADASS's opening Reception is upstairs at Gentle Ben's. If eating downstairs, we prefer sitting outside.
   • Illegal Pete's – eminently edible burritos. Try the potatoes in honor of Dan Quayle, who more recently saved the Republic. Probably best to sit upstairs at this one.
   • Frog and Firkin – "inventive variations on traditional English pub fare."
   • Many other diverse options that change faster than my personal lunch cadence.
   • Time Market is halfway between Main Gate and Fourth Avenue. The Third Avenue Streetcar stop is right outside.
     • or it's a 10-minute walk from the same Streetcar stop to Zemam's, Too, authentic Ethiopian dining.
3. Fourth Avenue
   • Magpies is a worthy contender in the never-ending pizza wars. Pesto? Yes, please!
   • The Shanty, "Arizona's Oldest Continuously Licensed Bar." There will be students.
   • The Hut tiki bar. If you've been to Tucson before, you may recognize the Moʻai relocated from a mini golf course across town.
     • If cultural appropriation gives you indigestion, select from many other options like the Boxyard or Bison Witches.
4. Downtown
   • Too many to single out, but Maynards is a favorite.
   • Chimichanga aficionados should make the pilgrimage to El Charro, where they were invented.
   • Borderlands Brewing Co. now has two locations and is the Tucson home for Astronomy on Tap (3rd Tuesdays).
   • The AC Hotel has the...wait for it... AC Lounge. It's near the Rialto Theatre.
     • The Black Jacket Symphony will perform "Hotel California" at the Rialto on Monday, November 6.
   • Or pair other downtown restaurants with other events.
     • For those on per diem, Metal Mondays at Club Congress are free.
5. Mercado San Agustin at the end of the Streetcar line
   • Agustin Kitchen is a nice place to dawdle, inside or out.
   • Judging from the line always waiting, Seis Kitchen must be good. Think about ordering online, perhaps from the Streetcar on the way.
   • At the Annex, we enjoy plant-based Beaut Burger.
     • Pair it with a plant-based beverage from Westbound.

If you or your friends have a rental vehicle or can split an Uber:

• The LOC hesitates to pick a Mexican restaurant. Willie Nelson and William Shatner like Mi Nidito in South Tucson.
• Heading north, brunch is a bust for conference-goers, but Prep & Pastry is the place if the morning Focus Demo left you in need of a Mimosa.
  • Try the patio at Blue Willow.
  • The POC dinner will be at the Union Public House at Saint Philip's Plaza. If you eat there before Wednesday, let us know how it was.
  • Keep going north, there are several options at La Encantada shopping center in the foothills. Frost Gelato for desert. This is also where to find the Apple Store.
• Heading east, Cielos has a pleasant patio at the Lodge on the Desert.
• Headed west, be a true rebel at Slice & Ice, which split off from the ubiquitous eegee's a few years back. Lime at one, lemon at the other.
• Wandering about in the middle, Feast has a new menu every month. Try the Halloumi grilled cheese. Open Tue-Sat. Next to SWS Computers.
  • Hankering for a chain restaurant? Never fear! Tucson's Culinary Dropout is in a converted lumber yard.
  • You won't have trouble finding a sports bar in Tucson, but devotees of the Church of the SubGenius might try Bob Dobbs.
  • Oh! Here's the other Borderlands across the street.
  • Relax at the Hop Shop with new friends and their old dogs.
    • Ciao Down Pizza delivers to your table, or fetch it yourself from the food truck du jour.
• Exploring the periphery, Google thinks a Holiday Inn Express is a "resorts and casinos near me". Maybe try Apple Maps.
• Virtual Seattle: Piroshky Piroshky comes to Tucson.

Please designate a driver as needed.

Hotels listed here are either adjacent to the University of Arizona Campus or lie along the Sunlink Streetcar line which will be running without charge throughout the meeting. There is a Streetcar stop steps from the ADASS meeting venue. Attendees with automobiles have a larger set of Tucson hotel and resort options with similar travel times. Parking ($16 per day) is adjacent to the ADASS venue (or cheaper parking is a short walk away). Street parking on campus (and some lots and garages) use a parking app, which you may want to install in advance.

It can be awkward to change hotels during a conference, but it may be worth checking availability and rates separately for the Rubin Community Workshop and ADASSx, especially the weekend. Buses are free in Tucson, and Ubers are competitively priced.

Map of ADASSx Hotels

Lots to do in Tucson! The ADASSx plenary meeting venue is located just outside the orbit of Saturn on the University of Arizona's Scale Model Solar System. Head out the Main Gate past Neptune for various lunch and dinner options.

On Sunday, the Catalina Sky Survey Planetary Defense Splinter Session is on Venus (at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory). Elsewhere in the inner Solar System, an actual fragment of an asteroid is floating around the asteroid belt, the Flandrau Planetarium is for Martians, and the Moon Tree, a sycamore grown from a seed that flew on Apollo 14, lives by the model Earth and Moon.

Some places to check for time-varying events happening during your visit to Tucson are:

Tucson Weekly

University Calendar

Tucson Events

Pima County Calendar

...and just a few specific transient events happening before, during, and after ADASS:

 Center for Creative Photography's 50th Anniversary

Aug. 6: Buddy Guy