Miami Valley Astronomical Society

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Beavercreek, OH
Miami Valley Astronomical Society

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For more than 100 years, the MVAS has been the face of amateur astronomy in the Miami Valley dedicat

10/31/2026

There's a faint halo around the moon this morning. Catch it if you can!

Happy Halloween! 🎃

10/26/2026

I just stepped outside and caught a glimpse of the brilliant Hunter's Moon setting in the west. Catch it if you!

Happy Monday!

10/25/2026

It's shaping up to be yet another beautiful fall evening. If you get a chance step outside for a bit and take a peek at the full Hunter's Moon. It should be a gorgeous evening to take a walk in moonlight!

Enjoy!

10/25/2026

We had a wonderful time at Washington Mill Park in Bellbrook, Ohio, last night sharing our 1960s vintage 5” f/16 Unitron 510. This has become something of an annual event for us as this was the first outreach event that we attended with the 510 several years ago. The evening was cold and clear and we started with Saturn, which was a big hit, but some of the younger children were having trouble seeing it, so we switched to the waxing gibbous moon and that worked out great! They loved it! The Mission is always to deliver that ‘Oh Wow!’ moment, and mission accomplished!

10/24/2026

The Great Orion Nebula in HOO (1 night) and the Soul Nebula (2 nights) in SHO. Both were taken this week with HaOiii and SIIOiii filters.

10/09/2026

I wanted to sneak in a little eyepiece time before the clouds roll in this evening so I set out my 1958 vintage 60mm f/15 1958 Goto Hy-Score model 451 to take a peek at Venus. I fitted the scope with a 0.965” to 1.25” conversion diagonal, set the focus on a distant object using a vintage 20mm Meade RG wide field (45x), pointed the scope in about the right direction (15 degree-ish on the west side of south and about 22 degrees east of the sun), set the altitude using a digital inclinometer (about 27 degrees), then swept left/right until Venus came into view. I then switched to a modern Meade 14mm UWA (65x) and enjoyed the view! Venus looked amazing as a large, slender crescent only about 7% illuminated. And sure enough, after about 45 minutes the clouds showed up. Ugh.

10/09/2026

It has been a wonderful imaging week. Minor issues however I've gotten some good images. Both of these are from last night.
The emission nebula is embedded in Melotte 15, an open closer in the Heart Nebula. This is the Heart of the Heart, a favorite.

The dark nebula is LBN 1295, the Giraffe Nebula, in Cassiopeia.

10/08/2026

The little camera that could… my Seestar S30 Pro on the beach in South Carolina making an observation of T CrB. I borrowed the tripod from an S50 to raise the S30 Pro a safe distance above the sand. We always take a Seestar with us when we travel so I can continue my T CrB observations and I have set them up in some pretty challenging locations. This is the best beach location that we have had yet, though I had to walk quite a distance to find a reasonably dark spot past the beachfront hotels. Still, groups walking by with flashlights made it fun, but it went pretty well and I got a nice observation. (No, T CrB still hasn’t erupted. :) )

10/07/2026

It's been a while since I've posted. I had major issues with my mono rig, including it falling over in a thunderstorm and breaking the flat panel, among other problems. Then I shorted out my MeLe computer and replaced it, using the NVME card from the old computer (retained all my programs and settings!). Last night, it finally had first light with my new 3nm filters. For some reason, a lot of the subs were rejected BUT the final product looks awful good to me.
Details:
AT120EDT at 644mm
QHY MiniCam8, shooting mono with only SHO.
ASI220mm OAG
ZWO AM5
ZWO EAF
Total integration time

10/04/2026

Shortly after 8 o'clock Sunday morning Saturn passes through opposition from the sun and officially enters the evening sky! The ringed gas giant rises in the northeast as dusk deepens into night, and the rings are once again opening up after spending much of the last year nearly edge-on. Even through a small telescope or steady binoculars they are a marvelous sight. Welcome back Saturn!

Address

Beavercreek, OH
45434

Website

http://www.mvas.org/

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