Spring Star Party
Saturday, April 25th 2009




  Starting at dusk on Saturday, April 25, The Valmont Amateur Astronomy Group (or VAAG) will have a “Spring Star Party”, at the North end of our property.  Astronomical highlights include Saturn, The Sombrero Galaxy (M104), the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), and the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules (M13). If you have never seen the rings or moons of Saturn, light from a distant galaxy, or a million stars clustered in a tight ball, Saturday will be your chance.  Two club telescopes will be operating Saturday night. One of these scopes will be connected to a video camera. Members and gusts are encouraged to bring their own telescopes or binoculars, to give people a wide range of viewing experience.

Long-range forecast calls for clear-skies, but in case the weather does not cooperate with our star party, a presentation on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be given inside Valmont Community Church, starting at 9:00 PM.  JWST, scheduled to launch in 2013,  will be the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.  JWST is a major observatory program being developed by NASA, Northrop Grumman and Ball Aerospace.

 

 

Who We are:

The Valmont Amateur Astronomy Group (or VAAG for short) was envisioned about a year ago as a means to reach out to the community to provide a forum to share our mutual interest in astronomy.  While the VAAG is associated with Valmont Community Presbyterian Church, all are welcome to participate in the fun and become a member of the VAAG.


VAAG Board Meetings:

Our next VAAG Board Meeting will be held on Monday, May 4th  at Valmont Church, starting at 7:00 PM. Discussions of the VAAG Observatory and our next community event will be the topics of discussion.   



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