Latest News and Posts

  • *TRI*STAR* 2020 March 7th

    On March 7th the Guilford Technical Community College’s Cline Observatory will host its annual astronomy Triad Starfest, *Tri*Star* for short. *Tri*Star* is a conference for astronomers of any level, beginner to professional. The event includes several astronomy related lectures throughout the day, astro related vendors, folks presenting “How-to” sessions for any beginner questions, an astro…

  • The Great Observatories

    Young Astronomers Blog, Volume 28, Number 5. Light is all around us. When we look at the world, we can see incredible colors. However, visible light is only a very small part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Light is a particle and a wave. Light waves can be measured in terms of its wavelength and frequency.…

  • Camper Observation at Stone Mountain State Park 2/22

    Update 2/21:  We are a GO for tomorrow night’s observation event. The sky conditions look to be excellent albeit a little chilly. There is a small adjustment though. The Loop A camping area is closed to campers for the season but we will still be set up in our regular observation site. This change effects…

  • Discovering Pluto

    Young Astronomers Blog, Volume 28, Number 4. Remember Pluto? Yes, Pluto. It was a planet for a long time, then it wasn’t. Pluto was discovered ninety years ago on February 18, 1930. This is the story. Shortly before the turn of the century, that is the turn of the 19th century, there were five planets,…

  • FAS Pilot Mountain Public Observation Saturday February 29th

    Update  2/28: We are a GO for our public observation at Pilot Mountain State Park, this Saturday, February 29th. Observations will begin shortly after sunset. Sunset is at 6:17pm, astronomical twilight ends around 7:45pm,the Moon (32%) and Venus will be visible early, moonset is at 11:54pm. The weather forecast looks to be very good, but cold. Clear…

  • Gravitational Waves

    Young Astronomers Blog, Volume 28, Number 3. In 1915, Albert Einstein overturned Newton’s theory of gravity. He published his General Theory of Relativity which said that gravity is the result of the warping of space/time rather than a force that extends across space. Einstein’s theory was based on his equivalence principle, which states that the…

  • February 2020 FAS Meeting

    Wednesday February 12th, 7:30 pm, at Kaleideum North the Forsyth Astronomical Society will have its regularly scheduled monthly meeting. Club member Bruce Mellin will be giving the presentation entitled: Imperfect Time – A History of Mismatched Units of Time Measuring the passage of time has become more complicated as civilizations required greater precision from timekeeping…

  • Betelgeuse is Dimming

    Young Astronomers Blog, Volume 28, Number 2. Astronomers measure the magnitude of a star in a bit of a strange way that dates to Hipparchus. A negative magnitude is brighter than a positive magnitude. A difference of one magnitude is actually a 2.5 times difference in brightness. A star’s apparent magnitude is the perceived magnitude…

  • FAS Observation at Kaleideum North Saturday 2/1

    Update 1/31:  We are a GO for tomorrow nights observation at Kaleideum North. The current forecast is calling for AM rain, followed by clearing skies around sunset. Clear to partly cloudy skies, with temperatures around 50 at sunset, falling to the mid to low 40’s by the end, NW winds around 6 mph.   Saturday February 1st…