Seattle Astronomical Society

09/04/2026

https://www.space.com/news/live/nancy-grace-roman-telescope-live-updates-nasa-begins-spacecraft-commissioning-september-2026

The Roman Telescope launched on Aug. 30, at 7:26 a.m. ET.

09/03/2026

It has come to our attention that for the foreseeable future, the Goldendale state observatory is closed due to a staffing shortage.

09/01/2026

https://youtu.be/44nqwdmln6w?si=HCulEW_Bv07J2rNN

Another stargazing season is upon us!As the dark skies of autumn ...

08/30/2026

A lot of people showed up for the lunar eclipse at Seward Park.

08/21/2026

UPDATE: Covington Star Party
While the star party is cancelled due to clouds, the astronomy class is still happening.

Astronomy 101 - 6pm
Where: Covington Aquatics Center
18230 SE 240th St, Covington, WA 98042

08/21/2026

Note: This is not an official event by the SAS.

Who: Volunteer Park Astronomers
When: Today, Thursday August 20, 2026 - 730 to 930PM
Where: NEW TEMP LOCATION: E. Boston Street and Harvard Ave. E

The Moon and Venus will be doing the majority of the dancing till it's dark enough at around 845 to start looking for other things like globular clusters nebulae and open clusters.

Both Venus and the Moon are about half full. That means some prominent mountain ranges are visible on the Moon and we should be able to see Venus shaped like a little half Moon.

By 845 both the Moon and Venus will be kinda fuzzy near the horizon

One globular cluster is kinda like right next to the Moon almost in the same eyepiece view.

There's another globular cluster called the Gumball Cluster, which must be attempted.

There are also a couple others almost straight overhead.
There's also the summer classics Ring Nebula and Dumbbell Nebula

We could at least point the scopes at the center of the Milky Way galaxy where the supermassive black hole is. Can't really see anything there :) but it's the time of year where we can at least point the scope at it and pretend.

Also, the IAU is gearing up to revisit the definition of planet in 2027, and a couple proposals are already circulating, and if you wanna talk shop about them or even discuss alternative options to present to the IAU, we could talk about all that. Also, if you know anyone who is really active in the IAU or in astronomy groups or astronomy industry right now, please let me know.

Winston from Seattle Astronomical Society is coming too, to test a new motorized mount, and probably has a list of objects to look for too!

08/17/2026

Join us for this month's member meeting 8/19 at 7pm for a talk at TJO. We'll be sharing an overview of the Nancy Grace Roman telescope and how to get involved with NASA citizen Science research projects (all ages welcome).

08/16/2026

CANCELLED - Snoqualmie Star Party

Too many clouds. We are cancelling the event for August. See you in September!

08/14/2026

It's that time of the year again. The 2027 board elections are in November. If you have thought about stepping up and being a part of the club's leadership we would love to hear from you. Email [email protected] or even better attend one of the board meetings and see how business is conducted and what positions are opening up.

08/12/2026

Piney Woods star party - CANCELLED

The August new moon star party at Piney Woods this weekend has been cancelled due to unhealthy air quality this weekend.

Smoke from B.C. is expected to be pulled into the state and the fire on the eastern flank of Mt Hood will contribute to an unhealthy air quality and poor seeing in the Goldendale area.

We used the forecasts from iQAir.com and Astrospheric.com to make this decision.