Richmond Astronomical Society
Looking for fellow astronomy lovers? Here we are.
Upcoming Events
| RAS monthly meeting | 12/10/2019 | Science Museum of Virginia, 2500 W. Broad 6:30pm Annual eating meeting – potluck dinner – note earlier time. Bring a dish to share – everyone is welcome! |
| Skywatch at the Science Museum | 1/24/2020 | Skywatch at the Science Museum of Virginia – starts at dusk, about 6:00 PM |
| Annual dues are due | 12/31/2020 | Annual dues are due. If you are a new member, you can apply here or if you are a returning member you can pay your 2020 dues here. Thanks to everyone for supporting what we do. |
You can find a full list of venues on the Venue Page
Searching for Information About the Sky?
Telescope Buying Guide
Do you want to buy a telescope, but don’t know where to start? You might consider using a binocular first, to become acquainted with the night sky. You can see…
Schedule a Skywatch
Are you a teacher? Scout Leader? We offer skywatch sessions, free of charge, for any educational purpose. We will bring telescopes to your site. Just send an email to education@richastro.org
What’s in the Sky Tonight?
Jupiter and Venus are both visible after dark. Look West–you’ll see two bright objects low on the horizon. The brighter object is Venus, and the other one is Jupiter. If…
Future and Past RAS Events
Mercury Transit at the SMV
John Beyer, RTD Meteorologist, wrote a nice article about RAS helping with the Mercury Transit on Monday, 11/11, at the Science Museum of Virginia.
Skywatch at Freeman High
Who knows what we turned off last night. We arrived at the Freeman High School practice field last night to find that the stadium lights were on. When asked, one…
RAS Celebrates 70 Years
“Watch me pull off a miracle,” Angie announces. I’m helping organize the club’s 70th anniversary celebration and she catches me by surprise. Angie Hutchison has set up all the tables,…
Staunton River Star Party is Coming Up – Oct. 21-27
If you have not been to this star party before, it’s a real treat and very much worth the trip. The dark skies, hospitality, convenience, facilities, and good food that…
Skywatch at Powhatan State Park
The skies at this park are very good-we could easily see the Milky Way, which is always a good omen. The park itself is very clean and well kept. We…
Skywatch at Intermission Beer Company
Who says jeeps and telescopes don’t mix? It turned out to be a good night for star gazing last week with a large crowd at Intermission Beer Company, due to…
Staunton River Star Party – Registration is now open for October!
Registration is now open for the fall installment of the Staunton River Star Party (October 21-27). Registration information at http://www.chaosastro.org/starparty/ This star party is distinguished by being held at Staunton…
Staunton River Star Party, Spring 2018
Below is a link to images of the March 2018 party compressed into three minutes for your enjoyment. Click on the image to view the video or watch on YouTube…
Chesapeake Crater Talk Highlights VAAS 2018
Greg Redfern of the website What’s UP? The Space Place gave us all a good reason to stay awake at conventions: he played a video of the Chelyabinsk meteor exploding over…
NEAF 2018 by Mearl Balmer
. On April 20 John Raymond, Ray Moody and I traveled by car to Suffern, NY for the 2018 Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) show (27th year!). Indeed, quite a show…
East Coast Star Party–Endurance Test
Clouds, clouds, and more clouds. ECSP, sponsored by Kent Blackwell, ran from Thursday 10/12 to Saturday 10/14, but it was cloudy every night. For those who could stay one more…
2017 Solar eclipse at SMV
We’ve had some pretty large crowds at the SMV, but Aug. 21 of 2017 was one of the largest I’ve seen. Since we gave away 750 pairs of eclipse glasses,…