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Staunton River Star Party – October 2014 Installment

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I came back! This Fall’s installment of the Staunton River Star Party was a hit as were the preceding ones. The Chapel Hill Astronomical and Observing Society (CHAOS) and the Staunton River State Park again did a stellar job of hosting the event.  They made us feel very welcome and took great care of us. … Read more

Persistence Pays Off!

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At this year’s Fall picnic we were treated to great food, marvelous company and some extremely comfortable temperatures along with beautiful views in the afternoon.  As the sun approached the horizon, clouds rolled in as they are apt to do and prevented astronomical viewing in the evening. Most of our guests and astronomers had left … Read more

My New Favorite Star Party – Part 2

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Well I went back – to the Staunton River Star Party at Staunton River State Park, that is.  I was not disappointed.  The weather was not cooperative at all.  In fact, we only had one good night of observing, but the staff of the state park did a great job as before.  They were super … Read more

My New Favorite Star Party

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I recently attended, along with several other members of the Richmond Astronomical Society, the Staunton River Star Party hosted jointly by the Chapel Hill Astronomy Club (CHAOS) and the Staunton River State Park. Before I was able to find the time to attend, I had heard the party was a good one, but had not … Read more

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Updates on Upcoming Events Live NASA downlink from the International Space Station, July 5: The Science Museum has requested a few RAS volunteers to do astro activities at SMV on Thursday, July 5 in conjunction with a live NASA downlink from ISS. The Museum needs volunteers from 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM.  Might be good to … Read more

Transit of Venus – June 5, 2012

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  Please join the Richmond Astronomical Society to Observe the Transit of Venus on June 5, 2012! ____________ RAS astronomers will have safely filtered telescopes deployed in front of the Science Museum of Virginia on June 5 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM to provide visitors with excellent views of the transit of Venus across … Read more

Thanks for a Great Astronomy Day!

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  Many, many thanks to everyone who supported our Astronomy Day activities at the Science Museum and at our evening event at Belmead on the James in Powhatan. I’m always afraid that I will forget someone, but I want to make sure that I call out the folks who helped.  So here goes.  Thanks to … Read more

Astronomy Day is Almost Here!

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  April 28 activities at the Science Museum of Virginia and at Belmead on the James in Powhatan  RAS will be supporting Astronomy Day activities at the Science Museum of Virginia from 12 noon until 4 PM. Please contact Prashant Reddy at reddypva@verizon.net if you can help with the Science Museum activities. That evening we … Read more

Sunspots pay off for science fair winner

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As most of you are aware, RAS shows their support for future scientists by awarding money at the Metro Richmond Science Fair. We call it the Wilber T. Stone Award and look for exhibits that demonstrate astronomy or space science. The Fair encompasses all of the Richmond and surrounding county schools, so it’s quite large–usually on the order of 2-300 entries.

We’ve been doing this for about 15 years now, and we almost always have at least one recipient. And we had a good one this year–Sydney Mabry, of Moody Middle School, composed her project on sunspots by observing them with a telescope that she constructed herself. She was able to determine that the size of a sunspot is directly related to how long the sunspot exists.

 

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