May 2013 Planetarium Shows

Written by Administrator

Our Public Planetarium Shows Begin at 7:30 PM

Saturn- Saturdays, May 5, 11, and 25 at 7:30 PM

Lord of the Rings - Journey to the ringed wonder of our Solar System - Saturn and its many moons. On your travels you will discover the mystery behind Saturn’s rings and how this massive gas giant was discovered by early astronomers. Extreme pressure, bitter cold and massive storms are just a few of the many challenges scientists and engineers must face and overcome as we remotely explore this amazing planet. This is a family friendly show to be presented the first, second, and fourth Saturday nights of this month. Bring your questions about Saturn and we will see what we can do to answer them!

Planetary Conjunctions- Saturday, May 18 at 7:30 PM

Celestial Ballet: Stargazers will get a rare triple planetary treat this month with Jupiter, Mercury and Venus appearing to meet together in the western skies after sunset. The planets are actually hundreds of millions of miles apart, but the way the planets orbit the sun make it appear they are neighbors. Join us as we discuss conjunctions of planets, what causes them and how they have helped shape our understanding of the Solar System.

Telescopes will be open after the programs.  (Weather permitting) All programs are open to the public.

Admission for Saturday Night Programs:

Admission is $5 for Adults, $3 for Students, and free for children under 6, as well as VBAS members. Weather permitting, you will have the opportunity to look at some of the wonders of the universe our telescopes following the planetarium program with the help of our experienced and knowledgeable observing crew

Triple Conjunction Observing at USSRC - May 26

Written by Jeff Delmas

Triple Conjunction Observing at the USSRC – Observers Needed

May 26, 2013 7:45 – 10:00pm

The Von Braun Astronomical Society will team with the US Space and Rocket Center to host a public observing session in front of the Davidson Center for a Triple Planetary Conjunction. Observing takes place Sunday, May 26th from 7:45 to 10:00pm. This rare triple conjunction finds Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury forming a small triangle in the western sky. Telescopes will be set up for viewing these planets. We also plan to view Saturn, Star Clusters, and maybe a galaxy or two.

Here is the schedule for the event:

6:00 PM "400 Years of the Telescope" will play in the Digital Theater in the Davidson Center.

7:00 PM Special presentation by Bill Cooke, NASA Scientist.

8:00 PM Guests gather in the parking lot for observing

10:00 PM Event ends.

If you would like to bring a telescope to this event, please contact Jeff Delmas at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Everyone is invited to attend at no charge.

M51 The "Whirlpool" Galaxy

Written by Administrator

This is one of the latest images we have taken with the Sims SBIG camera. It is of M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici, just off the last star in the tail of the Big Dipper. The image was taken on April 12, 2013 through our 6 inch Astrophysics StarFire apochromatic refractor on an Orion Atlas mount and was made by stacking multiple exposures taken through different filters in order to achieve the color image.  The smaller object (at the bottom of M51, in this picture) is its companion galaxy, NGC 5195. Jeff Delmas, Frank Schenck, Jared Cassidy, and Doug Horacek were the observing crew that acquired the image.

Astronomy Camp - June 10-14

Written by Administrator

A unique astronomy day-camp will be conducted at VBAS from June 10-14.  Only 10 camper slots are available.  8th through 12th grade students only.  For more information, including times and cost, please see this flyer.

Monthly Society Meeting

Written by Administrator

The next VBAS Monthly Society Meeting will occur Friday, June 21 at 7:30 PM. Pizza at 7:00 PM!

This will be a joint meeting with HAL-5. Stay tuned for more information!

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First Light of the Richard Sims SBIG Camera

Written by Administrator Saturday, 23 June 2012 12:33

The night of June 22, 2012, brought "first light" to our new digital astronomical camera, which was made possible, thanks in part, from a donation by Terri Sims in memory of her husband Richard Sims.  Our new camera is a SBIG model STF-8300M, with St-i Autoguider/Planetary Camera, and FW8 Filter Wheel.  This is a monochrome camera, which uses filters and multiple images stacked together to achieve a color image, this allows all available pixels to be used for making the image and provides better resolution than single-shot color cameras.  Our plan is to use this on the Swanson 21 inch telescope and other society scopes to show the wonders of the universe to the public and make contributions in astronomical research.  "First light" was not made on the Swanson 21 inch telescope, but on our new Vice-president, John Callahan's 102mm F/7 ED APO refractor from Explore Scientific mounted on an Orion Atlas EQ-G German equatorial mount.  A smaller instrument was chosen for the first images, so that adjustments and famiiliarity with the new camera would be easier, plus it is a lot easier to make adjustments to the camera when it is closer to the ground on a refractor as opposed to our large 21 inch Newtonian.  Jeff Delmas, our Director of Planning and Reseach, lead the effort to acquire the camera and the "first light" attempt.  On hand for the event, were John Callahan, Jeff Delmas, Frank Schenck, Doug Horacek, Jared Cassidy and Tom Burleson.  Below are some monochrome images which were made that night (these images are minimaly post-processed).  We plan to have some color images in the future, as our team of observers acquaints itself with the workings of the new camera.  In the meantime, we hope you enjoy these images as much as we did when they first appeared in the computer monitor:

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