Latest News and Posts

  • 2025 NC Statewide Star Party (April 4 & 5)

    Once again The Forsyth Astronomical Society will be participating in the North Carolina Statewide Star Party, which will be held on Friday April 4 and Saturday April 5. The star party is part of the month-long North Carolina Science Festival. FAS has four activities scheduled. All are open to the public. A weather call will…

  • Spring into Spring

    Yes folks, it is spring! Technically, we reached the vernal equinox on Thursday March 20 at 5:01 EDT. This is when the Sun, which follows a path called the ecliptic, crossed an imaginary line above the equator called the celestial equator. It is also the day when there is an equal amount of daylight and…

  • That’s a wrap! The March 2025 Total Lunar Eclipse

    The March 2025 Total Lunar Eclipse has come and gone. Here are photos (and one video) of the eclipse from several FAS members. Images Credit: Lewis Weinstock Images Credit: Joe Haberthier Seestar Images Credit: Bruce Gavett Re-stacked and enhanced Seestar Images Credit: Bruce Gavett Images Credit: Tina Kelley (Special Guest) Video Credit: Bill Rankin For…

  • Public observation at Pilot Mountain (Friday, March 28)

    On Friday, March 28, the Forsyth Astronomical Society and the rangers of Pilot Mountain State Park will host a free public astronomy observation at Pilot Mountain State Park. The event will begin at 8:30 PM and conclude at 10:30 PM. This event is weather-dependent, and a weather update will be posted on our website (fas37.org)…

  • Happy Pi Day!

    Happy Pi Day everyone! Here is an astronomy blog we wrote a few years ago (Happy Pi Day and The Hierarchy of Numbers) and an article from the folks at NASA (How Many Decimals of Pi Do We Really Need?)

  • New Moons for the Solar System

    It is very difficult to keep up with the number of moons in our Solar System. On March 10, 2025, it was announced that Saturn has 128 NEW moons. Not just a total of 128, but 128 new moons bringing its total number of moons to 274. These are not huge moons like the Galilean…

  • Public observation at Stone Mountain (Saturday, March 22)

    WEATHER UPDATE: This event will take place. On Saturday, March 22, 2025 the Forsyth Astronomical Society will host a public astronomy observation at Stone Mountain State Park. It should be dark enough to observe by 8:30 PM. This event is weather-dependent. This post and the FAS Facebook page will be updated with the weather decision…

  • That’s a wrap! A night of observing the stars at Pilot Mountain (February 28, 2025)

    Finally, the clouds cleared and the weather held steady. We made it up to Pilot Mt. State Park. Around 200 people joined us for a close up view of Venus, Jupiter, and several other celestial objects. Many of the Winter constellations, including Orion, were visible. There was also a planetary alignment when seven planets were…

  • SPHEREx

    The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (aka SPEHREx) is about ready to take off. SPHEREx is a new entry into NASA’s space telescopes that began with The Great Observatories. While the James Web Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) focus on specific targets, SPHEREx…