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Upcoming Events:  CLUB MEETING -  February 21st Public Star Party -  February 19th MEETING ROOM #111 Warf Building, Vol State Community College 

                                                                                                                            

                                              

 
CURRENT MOON


Please come and join us for an evening of star gazing.  We host monthly public star parties at Bledsoe Creek State Park  in
Gallatin, TN.  Check our Events page for dates and locations.  Viewing begins at sunset, weather permitting.  Contact us to arrange private star parties.
 
We participate in the annual
Volunteer State Community College
 Math and Science Expo.   Visit www.volstate.edu/expo for more
 information.




 
                                                                CUMBERLAND ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
                                

      
                                       
Welcome to the official website of the Cumberland Astronomical Society.  We are a group of amateur astronomers based in Gallatin, Tennessee.  Our focus is to bring astronomy to the general public in the upper middle Tennessee area.  We hold several monthly
events at local schools, libraries, and parks. Everyone is welcome, so please click the "EVENTS" link for dates and times.

Please enjoy the video below which gives a brief overview of the Cumberland Astronomical Society.  To join C.A.S.!!! CLICK HERE FOR A PRINTABLE MEMBERSHIP FORM!!!!!  Click here if you prefer PDF Form.

Video Courtesy CAS Member Ben Mclerran with music from http://incompetech.com.





THIS JUST IN:  Meetings will be held in the WARF Building Room #111 at Vol State Community College until further notice.  Public Star Parties will be held at the Science Field Station of Vol State until further notice.    Please see The Events page for more detailed information.

 
One of our members, Allen Robnett, has been featured in The Tennessean -- our local paper.  Click here to be taken to the newspaper's webpage.

You can read more about Allen's discoveries here.



Photographs from a recent October 2012 Boy Scout event:

    

Photographs from the All Saints Episcopal Church Outreach Event:

                     


Photographs from the April Public Star Party held at Bledsoe Creek Park:

                                       
Sue, Jim and Allen                                               A visitor viewing the sun through our PST.                 A new member checking out Jack's scope


  Photographs from the annual Science and Math Expo, held at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin:

                 





Images from various events we've held:

          
Fall Creek Falls - Tennessee Fall Star Gaze - October 29, 2011
Sharing information and observations of our star, The Sun.                   Jim Opalek at Lock 4 Park                   Karma's 2 dobs - Cosmic Queen and Sky Vixen - and bino mount.

JUNE 5, 2012 - The Transit of Venus
A Solar Viewing Lesson from The Adventure Science Center

Some photographs from our transit observing session.............

                                   


                     


        



            



                        


              

Last chance in our lifetime - the transit of Venus. 

When Venus passes directly between earth and the sun, we see the distant planet as a small dot gliding slowly across the face of the sun.  Historically, this rare alignment is how we measured the size of our solar system.

The Transit of Venus occurs June 5 or 6, 2012, depending on your location.  Observers in North America see it the evening of June 5. This will be the last transit of Venus to occur in your lifetime.
We will be observing this wonderful spectacle from Volunteer State Community College.  Set up at 3 P.M.
Wallace Field.  See the events page for more information.

  Telescope Math Calculator



Looking for a great Star Atlas Guide?  Here it is!  This helpful article was written by a very knowledgeable amateur astronomer - Bill Warren - President of the Flint River Astronomy Club in Georgia.  To read and download the file, click here.












 

 Deep Sky Objects - Circumpolar Constellations


Click on the form above to view printable document in another window.




2012 Observing Resolution - Start working on your Double Star Award!!!


Albiero in Cygnus


One of the advantages of membership in the Cumberland Astronomical Society is that we are a member of The Astronomical League, which is composed of over 200 astronomy clubs from all over the United States.  Several of these member societies sponsor Observing Clubs, which award pins and certificates upon completion.

This month, we'll focus on the Double Star Club, which is managed by Nashville's own Mike Benson of Barnard-Seyfert Astronomical Society.

The purpose of the Double Star Club is to introduce observers to 100 of the finest double and multiple stars in the heavens. You don't need a large, expensive apochromatic refractor to view the objects on this list since a small refractor, Newtonian reflector, or Schmidt-Cassegrain will do just fine. All objects on this list were originally observed with a three-inch refractor using between 75X and 150X. Again, this program is meant to allow you to enjoy a different aspect of our wonderful hobby, and not to test your equipment.

Double star observing can be very forgiving. You don't need the darkest skies, the clearest skies, or even a moonless night to observe many of these objects. Some can be observed from your backyard under moderate light pollution, some can be observed under less than transparent skies, and some can even be observed with the moon up. However, as usual in astronomy, the best results can be obtained under optimum conditions. The point is, always try for the best conditions, but if you don't have them, don't worry about it. You can still enjoy this program.


For more information: 
http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/dblstar/dblstar1.html