Monthly meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 PM online at this link

Terry Barker

May 2012 Board Meeting Minutes

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RAS Board Meeting May 21, 2012   President Jim Browder called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.   Attendees (10): Jim Browder, President David Medici, Vice President Jim Blowers, Treasurer Chris McCann, Secretary Ken Wilson Bettie Wilson Prashant Reddy Bill Newman Tim Streagle Gary Cowardin (appeared at end of meeting)   Secretary’s report given by … Read more

Perseids meteors this weekend

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The peak of this show is either tonight (Saturday, Aug. 11), or tomorrow night, depending on which web site you look at. But I’d go with Sunday, because we’re going to be clouded out tonight in Richmond. This is one of the best meteor showers of the year, and I was planning on trying tonight too, because even though the peak will last only a few hours, there will be a heavier frequency of meteors for a week on either side of the peak. The closer to the peak, the better, of course.

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Mars Landing

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Curiosity is scheduled to land in the Red Planet’s Gale Crater late Sunday or very, very early Monday, depending on your Earthbound time zone. Confirmation of the landing should come at about 10:31 p.m. PT Sunday for folks on the U.S. West Coast, or 1:31 a.m. ET Monday for those on the East Coast. The … Read more

Giant rover to make ‘terrifying’ landing on Mars

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No spacecraft has ever landed like this before and NASA admits it’ll be a wild ride. NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover, a 2,000 pound (900 kilogram) SUV-sized robotic science laboratory, is scheduled to touch down on August 6 at 1:31 a.m. EDT. Mission managers say Curiosity’s trip to Mars has been “outstanding,” but the landing will be the hardest ever attempted. … Read more

Belmead on James Skywatch, August 25, 7:30 PM:

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Skywatch at Belmead on the James / Thomas Berry Educational Center.  RAS will deploy astronomers and telescopes for the event and there will be an indoor introductory session prior to the observing session.  This is an easily accessible dark sky location with plenty of parking adjacent to the observing site.  Please contact Jim Browder at … 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

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James River State Park is now a Dark Sky Park, certified by the International Dark Sky Association! Click on the image above for a short video. Above is Lora Callahan who started the project. Our next monthly meeting will be on Tuesday, June 11 at 7:30 PM at Science Museum of Virginia.   Please join us … 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

February 2012 Board Meeting Minutes

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RAS Board Meeting February 20, 2012   President Jim Browder called the meeting to order at 7:02pm.   Attendees (9): Jim Browder, President David Medici, Vice President Jim Blowers, Treasurer Chris McCann, Secretary Ken Wilson Prashant Reddy Gary Cowardin Dave Walton Bill Newman   Secretary’s report given by Chris McCann November’s board meeting minutes were … 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