CANCELLED: Saturday June 1 – Free Public Star Party at Pinnacle Mountain State Park – 8:30 PM to 11:30 PM

Tonight’s Event has been cancelled due to clouds.

The star party is a sky viewing event hosted by the Central Arkansas Astronomical Society along with Pinnacle Mountain State Park. It is held on the parking lot of the old visitor center, now known as the River View Center (not at the new visitor center.) Visit with the telescope volunteers as they share views of interesting stars, galaxies and nebula in the night sky.

   Bring a red flashlight if you have one to use in the viewing area. The red light will not disturb everyone’s night vision as a white flashlight does. Dress warmer than you think, the nighttime air can get a chill in it. 

   The moon will not be out this night so we have a chance to see constellations and deep sky objects. We’ll be looking for bright man made objects that cross the sky too.

   This event is the last Star Party scheduled for Pinnacle Mountain in 2024. The next public star gazing event will be August 31st at the soccer fields on Hwy 300, not far from Pinnacle Mountain, and you can get information about that event at the new visitor center later this summer. When you come to the park you will see that the old visitor center is now being offered for lease, and the future of star parties at this location is uncertain.

   With the recent unsettled weather our state has experienced, CAAS will cancel the star party if the sky is completely overcast (telescopes can’t see through clouds) and or if it is raining, or if a severe weather alert is active. Please be sky aware.     See you under the stars!

National Astronomy Day, May 18, 2024

May 18 is National Astronomy Day and the Central Arkansas Astronomical Society invites you to come out to Pinnacle Mountain State Park at the Visitor’s Center for an afternoon and evening of celebration! Starting at 2PM we will have activities for everyone to enjoy. If the weather is cloudy we will use a shorter schedule, 2PM – 8PM. It’s all free and all family fun. Come out and explore your cosmos!
 

Bubbles

Star gazing

Presentations

Star gazing

Stomp rockets

Star gazing

Saturday May 11th – Regular Monthly Meeting at 7 PM – In Person and Zoom

CAAS Monthly Meeting banner

 

The May CAAS Meeting will be at 7:00 pm on May 11 at River Ridge Observatory.  Supper Bowl will be at 6:00 with grilled out burgers and dogs.  Sign up early  https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/2e68dfe2-e0e7-4253-a4d7-fe85c176dbcb

We will kick off our group event of earning Lunar Observing Program Awards.   The Moon and How to Observe It will be presented by Rocky Togni.  Don’t waste half your month waiting for dark skies.  The moon is a fascinating place to observe and the more you know the more interesting.

In addition Karl Schultz will give a short talk on sketching which is a valuable tool for really “seeing” objects.