Kanawha Valley Astronomical Society

Welcome to the KVAS Website!

     The Kanawha Valley Astronomical Society is a non-profit educational organization. We are dedicated to the promotion of amateur astronomy in and around the West Virginia area and work closely with local schools and the Avampato Discovery Museum at the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences.

    The Kanawha Valley Astronomical Society operates and maintains Breezy Point Observatory, located at Camp Virgil Tate, near Cross Lanes, West Virginia. This rolling-roof design observatory houses the club's 12" computerized Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope. Financial support for the purchase of our telescope was provided by a grant from the Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation. Breezy Point Observatory is host to many of the club's monthly meetings as well as a number of star parties each year.

     The Kanawha Valley Astronomical Society is also co-sponsor of Blackwater Falls Astronomy Weekend and Green Bank Star Quest. Central Appalachian Astronomy Club along with Dominion Resources are our partners for Green Bank Star Quest. Blackwater Falls Astronomy Weekend is possible thanks to the cooperation of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Blackwater Falls Astronomy Weekend is held every fall at Blackwater Falls State Park. Green Bank Star Quest is held every summer at the Green Bank National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Both of these events are highly educational and well worth the trip.

Meetings

Meetings are held the third Friday of the month. The regular monthly meetings are held at 7:30 PM at the Hansford Senior Center, 500 Washington Street, St. Albans, WV 25177. Occasionally the meeting may be held at the observatory or another location. If so, the address and directions will be noted in the "Next Meeting" area.

Driving Directions: In St. Albans, from intersection of Rt. 60 and 3rd Ave. (at St Albans/Nitro bridge) proceed between Taco Bell and Tim Horten's on 3rd. Ave, under railroad underpass. Continue to 1st. stop light. Go-Mart will be on your left. Turn left on 6th Ave. Go 10 blocks to 3rd. stop sign at Lincoln Ave. You will have just passed under a railroad bridge. The main parking lot for the Hansford Senior Center will be across the intersection to the left. Enter main doors to first hallway. Turn right and KVAS usually meets in the room at the end of the hallway.

Next Meeting

The next meeting of KVAS will be at 7:30 PM on May 18, 2012, at the Hansford Senior Center in St. Albans.

Hansford Senior Center

Nite Sky by Brent Ogle

APRIL-MAY 2012

Moon Phases:New 4/21, FQ 4/29, Full 5/5, LQ 5/12, New 5/20, FQ 5/28.

Events: 4/20 7 PM, KVAS Meeting/Clay Center, 4/30 Greatest Venus illum., 5/18 7:30 PM. KVAS Meeting, Hansford Sr. Center, 5/20 sunset partial annular eclipse.

HERCULES (HER-ku-Ieez) the strong warrior and half mortal son of Jupiter performed many great feats. Jupiter made him a god and he became one of the best northern summer constellations. Most outstanding is the Hercules Globular Cluster M13 with 16 arc minute diameter, 5.9 magnitude and 23,000 light years distant. Its globular companion M92 is a little smaller and dimmer. Use at least a 10" telescope to resolve fine details in the clusters. Two planetary nebulae are NGC 6210, bright blue with 18 arc seconds across and 9 magnitude and IC 4593. The 4 stars of the Keystone provide the easiest way to locate the constellation but Ras Algethi (Alpha) is also spectacular as a very red super giant star of magnitude 3.1 to 3.9 and a visual green double of 5thmagnitude, 5 arc seconds away.

CORONA BOREALIS (kor-OH-nah bor-ee-At-is) The Northern Crown is easy to find since it is between the Keystone and Bootes. The highlight is Abel 2065 galactic clusters, but you need at least a 16"scope to see them. R & T are unusual irregular stars and Eta is a bright very close binary with a 41.6 yr period, a 5.0-combined magnitude and a one arc seconds separation.

SERPENS CAPUT (SIR-penz KA-put) The Serpent's head contains one of the best globular cluster M5, about 26,000 light years away, 17.4 arc minutes and 5.7 magnitude. The Delta star is a 4th magnitude binary with a 5thmagnitude mate 3.9 arc seconds away. NGC 6027 is a galaxy group (Stephan's Sextet) that is a challenge for a 12"scope.

SCORPIUS(SKOR-pee-us) The Scorpion features two large bright open clusters, M6 and M7, which are almost in the same field with large binoculars. Also, two great globular clusters are M4, a beautiful but rather strange one, best for small scopes and M80 which is small and bright, but needs a 10" scope. Antares is a classic red super giant star. Beta is a double with 13.7 arc seconds that can be resolved with a 2" scope or giant binoculars. A half-degree from Zeta is another open cluster, NGC 6231, which is best seen with binoculars.

Welcome to the KVAS Website!

Meetings

Next Meeting

Links

Nite Sky by Brent Ogle