December 2011 potluck dinner meeting where Tim Streagle presented images and a recap of the Heart of Virginia Fall Star Party, Leslie Bochenski led us in a rousing game of Astro-Jeopardy and we had a marvelous assortment of dishes and desserts to celebrate the holiday season. Image courtesy of David Medici.

Some of the astronomers who attended the Heart of Virginia Fall Star Party in November 2011. The facilities, location and hospitality were all much appreciated. Many thanks to the Heart of Virginia Scout Council for hosting this event. Images courtesy of Tim Streagle.

Video: RAS Fall Picnic at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation, September 17, 2011. Click on the image to run the video.

Astronomy Day 2012 at the Science Museum of Virginia where we had on display Sydney’s telescope, a meteorite specimen, skymaps, dark sky preservation information, a video astronomy demo, lots of astronomy information, a few of our astroimages and our ever popular roving astronaut.  The rocket launching, solar viewing and nighttime viewing were curtailed by the weather, but we had a very fun indoor session in…

An afternoon in May at the Ragland Observatory near Midlothian, Virginia.  Click on the image to the left for a short video tour of the observatory.

RAS members Bill Jeffries and Ted Bethune representing RAS at a NASA outreach event held at the Science Museum of Virginia.  Students at the Museum were allowed to speak directly with astronauts aboard the International Space Station through a direct downlink.  RAS was there to assist with the activities and join in the fun. (Images courtesy of Ted Bethune.)

2012 was the year for the Richmond Astronomical Society to host the annual conference of the Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies. Thanks to the great speakers, the vendors, the RAS volunteers, the participants, the Heart of Virginia Scouting Council and most of all to Betty Wilson and Ken Wilson for all their work in planning and coordinating the event. Betty masterfully handled planning and coordination down to the…

At the November 2012 meeting Ted Bethune provided an update on space program activity by the space-faring nations of Earth.  Of note is the recent high level of activity in the Chinese space program.  The image to the left shows three Chinese taikonauts on a mission.

Astronomers having fun at the May 2013 skywatch – Chris McCann, Bryan Hartley and John Raymond checking out Saturn as we understand.

Waving at Saturn and the Cassini probe on July 19, 2013. On this date between 5:27 and 5:42 PM the Cassini spacecraft  imaged Saturn with Earth in the background and we were there to remember the moment.