John Barnett will be hosting an open house at the RAS Ragland Observatory on Thursday, April 22, starting at 8:00 PM. The 8.5 day old moon will be in Cancer, near Mars and the Beehive cluster. Saturn will be high in the east. Watch the Richastro Yahoo Group or check back at this site for weather updates on the day of the event.
Directions:
From Henrico West End, go south on Parham rd, cross river on Willy bridge, rt onto Hugenot rd., then left onto Buford rd. Turn rt onto Rockaway rd and travel across the railroad,the creek (where Rockaway becomes Old Bon Air Rd.), and just past Mt Nebo church. Don’t go as far as the stoplight at Robious rd. You should be at the rear/side entrance of a shopping center ( Robious Hall, I think its called). turn left to drive behind the stores until you come to a fire hydrant and a steel gate on the left. The observatory is up the gated driveway.
From Chesterfield, go Rt.60 (Midlothian Tpke) and turn north at the stoplight onto Robious Rd. This turn is toward a mobile home park entrance and a small shopping center. Enter the shopping mall, maneuver behind it to the service area. The observatory is located up a gated driveway near the fire hydrant behind the mall.
For those with GPS:
Latitude = 37deg 30′ 31″
Longitude= 77deg 34′ 45″