Young Astronomers: YA January 21 Event at Ionia

Saturday’s Young Astronomers get together and Joshua DeBell’s birthday party combination at the observatory was a great success! The head count was about 55 people!

The day started out sunny and we had hopes of viewing some solar activity but, as often happens, the clouds rolled in about 2 p.m.
A fresh 2” coating of snow made for some very good sledding and for tracking animals on the observatory grounds and adjacent properties. We were able to identify and track deer, coyote, perhaps a dog or fox, rabbits and a couple of birds. Joe had excellent track identification hand outs for this activity.

After gorging on slices of fresh (98.6 degree) brain food, a program on Optical Illusions was presented by Bob McGovern followed by a workshop in electric motor construction by Rich Mulvey and son and the construction of models of Saturn by Valerie Rapson.
Someone needs to let Bob know that Halloween is over !

-


During this time, the clouds never parted and we ended the evening around 8 p.m. Photographs will be posted on our website and shown at the monthly meeting on February third. By the time I got our 3 GK’s home, the skies were pretty clear. Figures.

2011 ASRAS Halloween Party !

We had a great time at the 2011 ASRAS Halloween party this year !

Bob Mcgovern created a "spooktacular" haunted graveyard at the observatyory in Ionia :

And everyone enjoyed the costume contests, Halloween crafts, and pumpkin carving !

Thanks to Bob Mcgovern for all the awesome spooky decorations, and everyone who attended.

Hope to "scare" you next year !

2011 ASRAS Holiday Party !

What is the height of merriment and holiday cheer for an ASRAS member ?

Why the Annual ASRAS Holiday Party at the Strasenburgh Planetarium of course !
This year we all had a fantastic night of feasting on all manner of delicious goodies, a facinating galaxies show in the planetarium star theatre, and beautiful slide show of images taken by our talented members.
We also got a chance to honor our "Astronomer Of The Year" - Mr. Joe Alteri !
Joe was a very well deserved recipient for this year award, and I will bet that this years holiday party was one he will remember for a long time !
A special thank you goes out to everyone who helped setup, brought food, or contributed images to the members image show.
Also a big thankyou to Planetarium Director Steve Fentress who makes such a gracious host for our festivities !

If you missed out on this year, make plans to join us next year !

Sledding Party at Ionia Observatory Site Jan 15 2011

What do you get when you combine a nice snowy day in January and some steep hillsides ?

The 2011 ASRAS Sledding Party !

Thanks to everyone who showed up yesterday afternoon for our annual sledding party at the observatory in Ionia. We counted about 32 adults and kids on the hill or in the main building throughout the afternoon. The snow was great with a pretty stiff breeze out of the SW and totally overcast sky. The heavy overcast was a great benefit as seeing the sun could frighten some of the younger members unaccustomed to seeing their shadow. Anyway, it was great fun and good to be out of doors for a few hours. A special thanks to those who operated the grill (Lori, Chris P., ??) and helped clean up after it was over. Also, Thanks much to Ken Kressler who was there hours before it all started and removed all of the snow from the deck and building ramps!
Now, let spring come!

Science and Technology days at the Rochester Museum And Science Center 2010

ASRAS members Joel Schmid, Tom Kohler, and Joe Alteri attended the Science and Technology days at the Rochester Museum and Science Center this year on Dec 28th.
Science and Technology days is an annual series of days where families can come to the museum and visit with representatives from a wide variety of local clubs and organizations having to do with science and technology.

This year we were located on the second floor near the stairs on the west wall.
We had a nice display of Membership sign-up forms, Astronomy books, Astrophotos, and overhead projectors. Joe Alteri entertained many visitors with displays of google earth, Google mars, and Google universe.
Tom Kohler was also in attendance and provided lots of good info to our visitors.

All in all it was a great day and I thank Joe and Tom very much for their assistance and enthusiasm.
Thanks also to Jim Seidewand for his help in getting me in touch with the right people at the museum.

Astronomy Day 2003 Images

Black Forest Star Party 2002

The BSF 2002 articles/pictures

Tree Planting at Cherry Springs 2002

The stuff about Cherry springs - article here, page with gallery of photos.

Messier Marathon Results 2002?

Chris Holdredge won this one - article here

Living the Dream

This is the article about John Davis