Latest News and Posts

  • How to Pronounce It

    FAS Astronomers Blog, Volume 32, Number 6. Astronomical names are not always the easiest to pronounce. Many are derived from Latin, Greek, or another more exotic language. Star names, in particular, often come from Arabic and from a time when astronomy was kept alive in the Middle East during the dark ages in Europe. There…

  • 2024 T Coronae Borealis Nova

    It might be coming soon to the night sky near you. Yes, it is the 2024 T Coronae Borealis Nova. No, we don’t expect a Supernova – these are massive explosions that occur when a large mass star explodes at the end of its life. We haven’t seen one of these in the Milky Way…

  • Public Solar Observation at Kaleideum (Saturday, June 22 from 10 AM to Noon)

    FAS will hold a public solar observation at Kaleideum (120 West 3rd Street) on Saturday, June 22, from 10 am to 12 Noon. Solar telescopes will be available to safely view the Sun and solar activity such as sunspots and solar flares. See here for directions and parking information. This event is dependent on the…

  • June 2024 FAS Meeting (Wednesday, June 12)

    Please join us for the June meeting of the Forsyth Astronomical Society on Wednesday, June 12. The meeting will be held at the new Kaleideum at 120 West 3rd Street downtown in Winston-Salem, NC. FAS member Bruce Darling will talk about Edward Emerson Barnard, the Last of the Great Visual Astronomers and Pioneer of Astrophotography.  E.E.…

  • That’s a wrap! The April 8, 2024 Solar Eclipse

    The April 8, 2024 Solar Eclipse has come and gone. At our May meeting, several of our members regaled us with stories about their experiences chasing down this eclipse. Here are a few images taken by our members. Image Credits: Paul Jones, Wally Otti, Frank Westmorland, Sean Wood, Justin Nichols, and Bruce Gavett. We particularly…

  • A Planetary Lineup

    Update (June 19th): The folks from Sky & Telescope just published an article pointing out that a better lineup will be visible on the morning of June 29th. Get up early this month (June 2024) and look to the East. You will see a lineup of five or six planets. To be fair, you might…

  • What’s in the name Uranus?

    FAS Astronomers Blog, Volume 32, Number 5. William Herschel was the most famous astronomer of the eighteenth century. So much so, that Heinz Pagels called the first major section of his book Perfect Symmetry as “Herschel’s Garden.” On March 13, 1781, Herschel accomplished something that no one else had done in modern times. He discovered…

  • Public Solar Observation at Pilot Mountain State Park (Saturday, May 25 from 10 AM to Noon)

    WEATHER UPDATE: This event will take place. Conditions are not ideal, but should be good enough to get some solar views. FAS will hold a public solar observation at the Pilot Mt. State Park Visitors Center on Saturday, May 25, from 10 am to 12 Noon. Solar telescopes will be available to safely view the…

  • Public Solar Observations This Summer

    During the summer scheduling observations of the night sky is somewhat problematic because of the long days and short nights. It just gets dark too late. But fear not! During the day the Sun is out and we at the Forsyth Astronomical Society will bring out our telescopes (with the appropriate solar filters) for some…