Welcome to ASRAS

ASRAS Astronomy Forum
2024-12-04 19:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom
Topic: “A Deep Dive into the Big Dipper”
Presenter: David Bishop
As with most Forums, it will be geared towards a beginning or less experienced audience. All are welcome to attend.

December Meeting and Holiday Party
2024-12-06 17:30 - 22:00 | RMSC Strasenburgh Planetarium, RMSC Strasenburgh Planetarium, Rochester, NY, United States
ASRAS Annual Holiday Party Extravaganza at RMSC Strasenburgh Planetarium!
Please bring an Appetizer, Dessert or Beverage to pass!

5:30 PM – 6:30 PM set up tables/chairs/food/beverages.

6:30 – 7:30 PM Reception in lobby (bring appetizer/dessert/snack or beverage to share)

Folks can renew/start your ASRAS membership here tonight! Discount Totality Shirts, and Margie Seidewand crafted items also available for purchase – great for gifts.

7:30 – 8:00 PM ASRAS December meeting in Star Theater

8:00 – 8:30 PM – Member Images Montage on the Star Dome

8:30 – 9:20 PM Black Holes Revealed Star Show followed by 2025 Astronomical Highlights

9:20 – 10:00 PM CLEAN UP – Please help us leave the Planetarium as we found it!

ASRAS @ RMSC 'Stars with Santa'
2024-12-07 09:00 - 11:30 | RMSC Strasenburgh Planetarium, RMSC Strasenburgh Planetarium, Rochester, NY, United States
Family Fun Day: Stars With Santa

Join Craig Kaplan, Vicki Rotolo, and possibly David Bishop and other ASRAS Members as they do outreach at the RMSC Planetarium, engaging with children and their parents.

ASRAS Board of Directors Meeting
2024-12-11 19:00 - 21:00, 2025-03-05 19:00 - 21:00, 2025-04-02 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
Members welcome to attend. Contact Tony Golumbeck for details.

ASRAS @ RMSC ‘Stars with Santa’ 2
2024-12-14 09:00 - 11:30 | RMSC Strasenburgh Planetarium, RMSC Strasenburgh Planetarium, Rochester, NY, United States
Join Craig Kaplan and possibly David Bishop and other ASRAS Members as they do outreach at the RMSC Planetarium, engaging with children and their parents.

Family Fun Day: Stars With Santa

Open House
2024-12-15 12:00 - 15:00, 2025-01-12 12:00 - 15:00, 2025-02-09 12:00 - 15:00, 2025-03-16 12:00 - 15:00 | Max Farash Center for Observational Astronomy, 8355 County Road 14, Ionia, NY, 14475, United States
Come out and see our facility’s layout when it’s light, and see some of the equipment we have for member’s use.
*Also, if there is snow, there may be sledding*
(If you’d like to get practice opening up and operating a building/telescope, please let us know via the e-mail group so we can ensure there will be someone there at the Open House to accommodate you. )

RMSC Winter Break Event 2024
2024-12-28 11:00 - 15:00 | RMSC
Join David Bishop and other members doing outreach on behalf of RAS and ASRAS at RMSC’s Annual ‘Snowed-in’ winter break event at the RMSC.
https://www.rmsc.org/files/Snowed_In_Desk_Schedule.pdf

January Monthly Meeting
2025-01-03 19:30 - 21:30 | RIT Carlson 1125, RIT Carlson 1125, Rochester, NY, United States
Join us for our first ASRAS meeting of 2025!
In-person at RIT Carlson Building Room 1125 (simulcast on zoom)
Come as early as 7 pm to socialize.
Speaker: Dan Schneiderman, RMSC
Topic: “Continuing Space SciCom in Rochester Post-Eclipse”

ASRAS Board of Directors Meeting
2025-01-08 19:00 - 21:00, 2025-02-05 19:00 - 21:00 | Zoom

ASRAS Astronomy Forum (January 2025)
2025-01-22 19:30 - 21:00 | Zoom
Topic: “Earth Stuff, Star Stuff: Element and Isotope basics”
Presenter: Tony Golumbeck
As with most Forums, it will be geared towards a beginning or less experienced audience. All are welcome to attend. Contact Craig Kaplan (ckaplan0951@gmail.com) for zoom link.

February Monthly Meeting
2025-02-07 19:30 - 21:30 | RIT Carlson 1125, RIT Carlson 1125, Rochester, NY, United States
In-person at RIT Carlson Building Room 1125 (simulcast on zoom)
Come as early as 7 pm to socialize.
Speaker: Anna Ho, Cornell University
Topic: “The Landscape of Stellar Death”
Anna studies “the most energetic explosions in the universe.” For more information on our speaker, visit https://astro.cornell.edu/anna-yq-ho or https://annayqho.github.io/

ASRAS Astronomy Forum (February 2025)
2025-02-26 19:30 - 21:00 | Zoom
****RESCHEDULED TO WEDNESDAY APRIL 23, 2025****
Presenter: Craig Kaplan
Topic: “Cool Things to Know about a Hot Object”
This presentation will address the structure of the sun and origins of magnetic phenomena that affect the earth. Participants will also learn about web-based resources that will help them predict the occurrence of future powerful magnetic storms and aurorae.
As with most Forums, it will be geared towards a beginning or less experienced audience. All are welcome to attend. Contact Craig Kaplan (ckaplan0951@gmail.com) for zoom link.

March Monthly Meeting
2025-03-07 19:30 - 21:30 | RIT Carlson 1125, RIT Carlson 1125, Rochester, NY, United States
In-person at RIT Carlson Building Room 1125 (simulcast on zoom)
Come as early as 7 pm to socialize.
Speaker: Jim Porter, NASA Ambassador
Topic: “Laser Comm”

Total Lunar Eclipse Member Viewing
2025-03-13 23:30 - 2025-03-14 04:00 | Max Farash Center for Observational Astronomy, 8355 County Road 14, Ionia, NY, 14475, United States
Per Mark Minarich “We have a Total Lunar Eclipse occurring overnight from Thursday March 13 to Friday March 14 ( Pi Day!).
Temperatures likely in the high 30’s to Low 40’s so bundle up!
I’m planning on opening the Farash Center at 11:30pm Thursday night for observing.”
Also, Happy 144th Birthday to the Rochester Academy of Science!

ASRAS Astronomy Forum (March 2025)
2025-03-26 19:30 - 21:00 | Zoom
Topic: “How to talk to people about Science”
Presenter: Jim Bader, RMSC Strasenburgh Planetarium Director
Jim describes his presentation as follows: Amateur astronomy is an extremely rewarding hobby that you can share with anyone and everyone around you. However, the way we talk about the interesting things we see in the sky can quickly lead others into false truths and contradictions if we aren’t careful. My career is communicating sometimes difficult concepts in a way that everyone can grasp to some extent, but on occasion the simpler explanation can bite away at the truth in it all. Although it sometimes may feel self-deprecating, gracefully pointing out the beauty in our lack of understanding can give friends and family a window into the reality and wonder of science and astronomy that a mere fact might often overlook.”
As with most Forums, it will be geared towards a beginning or less experienced audience. All are welcome to attend. Contact Craig Kaplan (ckaplan0951@gmail.com) for zoom link.

Messier Marathon
2025-03-29 19:00 - 23:30 | Max Farash Center for Observational Astronomy, 8355 County Road 14, Ionia, NY, 14475, United States
Weather dependent.
Look to do a Messier Marathon the night of March 29. (This is the same date as the sunrise partial eclipse.)
Mark Minarich will be there after 10 pm, we’ll see who can show up to get it started.

April Monthly Meeting
2025-04-04 19:30 - 21:30 | RIT Carlson 1125, RIT Carlson 1125, Rochester, NY, United States
In-person at RIT Carlson Building Room 1125 (simulcast on zoom)
Come as early as 7 pm to socialize.
Speaker: Jitrapon Lertprasertpong, RIT Ph.D. Student
Topic: “Galaxy Formation and Evolution” – several topics related to galaxy evolution and the death of galaxies.
Jitrapon Lertprasertpong is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Astrophysical Sciences and Technology Program at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is currently working with Dr. Jeyhan Kartaltepe to investigate how the local environment influences galaxy properties, including star formation rates and AGN activities. Throughout his academic journey, from undergraduate to graduate studies, he has been involved in various astronomy research, including The Coincidence Analysis of Neutrino Events from KamLAND and IceCube (2020-2021), The Study of the Galactic Bulge Models for Determining JASMINE’s Precision (2020-2021), and The Study of Environmental Quenching of Galaxies in CANDELS Fields (2021-Present). He also has hands-on experience in observational astronomy, having collected data using the Keck Telescope in Hawaii, and is proficient in using various data analysis tools for his research.

Private Event?
2025-04-05 | Max Farash Center for Observational Astronomy, 8355 County Road 14, Ionia, NY, 14475, United States

Private Event
2025-04-11 - 2025-04-13 | Max Farash Center for Observational Astronomy, 8355 County Road 14, Ionia, NY, 14475, United States

Open House Apr2025
2025-04-13 12:00 - 15:00 | Max Farash Center for Observational Astronomy, 8355 County Road 14, Ionia, NY, 14475, United States
Come out and see our facility’s layout when it’s light, and see some of the equipment we have for member’s use.
(If you’d like to get practice opening up and operating a building/telescope, please let us know via the e-mail group so we can try to ensure there will be someone there at the Open House to accommodate you. )

RAS Annual Meeting and Spring Lecture
2025-04-22 19:00 - 21:00 | RIT Carlson 1125, RIT Carlson 1125, Rochester, NY, United States
RAS 2025 Spring Lecture Smith Frost Town
The Rochester Academy of Science Annual Meeting and Spring Lecture are Tuesday, April 22, 7:00 p.m. This live meeting (with Zoom remote) will be at the Rochester Institute of Technology Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, Room 1125, 54 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623. After a brief introduction and report, the Annual RAS Officer election will conclude the business meeting. Note that you must have renewed your membership by March 31st to vote.
The Spring Lecture will follow the business meeting at 7:30PM. Our speaker is Dr. Alexander Smith, professor of Anthropology at SUNY Brockport. He is head of our RAS Anthropology Section. He leads the Archaeology project in partnership with the Rochester Museum & Science Center. This project is dedicated to the excavation and better understanding of an abandoned mill town known as “Frost Town”, located on what is now the Cumming Nature Center in South Bristol, NY. If time permits, Dr. Smith will also discuss his excavations of iron-age sites on Mediterranean islands such as Mallorca and Menorca.

ASRAS Astronomy Forum (April 2025)
2025-04-23 19:30 - 21:00 | Zoom
Presenter: Craig Kaplan
Topic: “Cool Things to Know about a Hot Object”
This presentation will address the structure of the sun and origins of magnetic phenomena that affect the earth. Participants will also learn about web-based resources that will help them predict the occurrence of future powerful magnetic storms and aurorae.
As with most Forums, it will be geared towards a beginning or less experienced audience. All are welcome to attend. Contact Craig Kaplan (ckaplan0951@gmail.com) for zoom link.
Note: Rescheduled from February 26, 2025.

Public Observing Night
2025-04-25 19:30 - 23:00 | Max Farash Center for Observational Astronomy, 8355 County Road 14, Ionia, NY, 14475, United States
Join us for Public Observing at the Marian and Max Farash Center for Observational Astronomy. All welcome. Members come help visitors look at deep sky objects through our telescopes!

Member Observing Night
2025-04-26 19:30 - 23:30 | Max Farash Center for Observational Astronomy, 8355 County Road 14, Ionia, NY, 14475, United States
If clear skies, take advantage of New Moon weekend with member Observing Night at the Farash Center. Please use the LOWER parking area and use red flashlights.
