News and Updates
As many of you may know, 2018 marks our fourteenth year for the Almost Heaven Star Party (AHSP). It's is my pleasure to announce, on behalf of the Almost Heaven Star Party organizing team, that general registration for the 2018 event is now live! AHSP 2018 begins on Friday, September 7 and ends the morning of Tuesday, September 11. [...]
In light of the rainy forecast, tonight's public night is cancelled for tonight, 4/15/2018. Ray Young Great Meadow site coordinator
Come join NOVAC members to hear Dr. Tom Fowler from the George Mason University speak. Guests are welcome at our meetings. Topic: Electronically Assisted Astronomy For amateur astronomers today it is “the best of times and the worst of times,” to paraphrase Dickens. We have at our disposal a veritable banquet of sophisticated equipment, much of it [...]
Throughout the month of April members of the public will be joining with amateur clubs around the world in this global celebration of astronomy. Our own organization, the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club (NOVAC) will host its Astronomy Day event on Saturday, April 21st at C.M. Crockett Park giving members of the public a rare [...]
Cancelling the public night for C. M Crockett Park scheduled for tonight. This is a tough call. Weather forecasts don't agree as of 08:00. The Clear Sky Chart forecast says skies will clear to 20% coverage at 17:00 and then clear completely by 19:00. Forecasts by WeatherUnderground, Weather_Channel and Weather.com show clearing later with the [...]
March is the time of the year when the Messier Marathon is possible. This is also a great time to get started on your Binocular Messier observing program. A very useful resource (I would say essential) for observational astronomy is Sky and Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas. It is available from many sources for less than [...]
Come join NOVAC members to hear Dr. Miki Nakajima from the University of Rochester speak about the origin of the Earth and Moon. Dr. Nakijima earned her PhD in Planetary Science with a minor in Computational Science and Engineering from the California Institute of Technology. Guests are welcome at our meetings. Topic: Origin of the [...]
A big thank you to all NOVAC members for your volunteer and financial support during 2017! As of Feb 22, 2018, we have 675 full dues members and 189 “additional" members for a total of 864 NOVAC household members. Our club gains its strength from your membership and volunteer participation. Last month about 90 NOVAC [...]
I'm cancelling public night. Great Meadow fields are soft already. The melting snow will make it worse. When using the dirt roads to access our site, remember to try not veer off, causing damage and widening of the roads. We are grateful to be guests at Great Meadow so please don't damage the facilities. I [...]
There's a public night scheduled tomorrow, Feb 18, at Great Meadow. The weather forecast is pretty decent. However, the state of the field is not known. I will send out an email tomorrow as to whether the ground is too wet to hold the event. A group of special needs scouts who are taking the [...]
