UPCOMING EVENTS

Click Here To View The New SAS Event Calendar!

PAST EVENTS

SAS holds its annual Astronomy Day 2006

The members of SAS held their annual Astronomy Day event on May 20th at Centennial Park in Springfield IL. The event lasted from 4pm to 11pm. We had families stop through during the day to get a glimpse of the sun through our solar filters and we had quite a crowd at night fall to get some great views of Jupiter and Saturn among other objects.

SAS does presentation for the kids of Grant Middle School

The members of SAS held a presentation for the Grant Middle School 6th grade science class on April 18th at Centennial Park in Springfield. 16 students and several adults were on hand to learn about the vast distances between planets, stars, galaxies and the universe.

SAS does presentation for Cub Scout Pack

The members of SAS held a presentation for the cub scouts on February 28th at the Little Flower School in Springfield. 11 scouts and several adults were on hand to learn about the vast distances between planets, stars, galaxies and the universe.

SAS does presentation for Cub Scout Pack

The members of SAS held a presentation for the cub scouts on December 3rd at Morgan Stanley in Springfield. 15 scouts and several adults were on hand to learn about how to find stars in the night sky, how to read a star chart and the effects of light pollution. The scouts also learned about how scientist find planets around other stars.

Illinois Dark Skies Star Party 2005

The members of SAS held their fourth annual Illinois Dark Skies Star Party on October 6th - 9th at the Jim Edgar Panter Creek State Park. We had about 110 people from all over the midwest come out and enjoy the dark skies of central Illinois. Here are some pictures from the event.

SAS Hosts the kids of St. James Academy, Rockford IL - August 10th 2005

The SAS did a observing session for the kids of St. James Academy in Rockford Illinois. They are affiliated with the Dominican Sisters here in Springfield and were here to work at the Jubilee Farm near Burlin. There were about 35 students who came out to Don Jardines Observatory to learn about the night sky. This was a fun evening with lots of good questions from the students.

Astronomy Day 2005 - May 14th 2005

Once again members of the SAS hosted Astronomy Day on May 14th. This years event was held at the Rochester Public Library. SAS Members were on hand starting at 4pm showing the public views of the Sun, Moon and Jupiter in the daytime. Later that evening the public got to see Jupiter and 5 of its moons, Saturn and several of its moons, a nice quater Moon, several globular clusters, satelites and the International Space Station. Astronomy Day is a national event designed to bring awarness of Astronomy to the masses.

SAS hosts annual Messier Marathon

The members of SAS hosted another annual Messier Marathon at the Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Park on March 11th-12th. The weather was not very cooperative however early Saturday morning did provide several hours of good viewing. Some members got as many as 80 objects. Not too bad. The most enjoyable part of this years event though seemed to be the comradery between the SAS members and the 8 or so SLAS members that were on hand for this years event. Everyone had fun and we also enjoyed some good food from Paste House.

SAS at Owen Marsh middle school

The members of SAS showed up at the Owen Marsh middle school on Jan 20th for a show and tell event. This particular event was for the parents and students to come and experience as much hands on and information gathering as possible in a two hour time slot.

The event was coordinated by the Larry Hardy (SAS President) and The Parent Teachers organization (PTO) from the school.

Due to cloudy skies, SAS moved indoors and displayed video tapes of deep sky objects, CCD and Digital cameras, photographs and books on the night sky. SAS members also displayed a variety of different scopes for the kids to look at.

The third annual Illinois Dark Skies Star Party!

The third annual Illinois Dark Skies Star Party 2004 was a big success. Thanks to everyone who came out to this years event. Around 130 people, representing 11 different astronomy clubs,showed up for the event including several Springfield College in Illinois astronomy students. We had good weather, good food (Thanks to the Lions Club) and good times.

SAS at Camp Courage

Members of the SAS were out at Camp Courage in Jacksonville Illinois on July 19th. Members of the SAS ( Ray Watt, Mike Robertson, Travis Hindman, and Larry Hardy) conducted a brief presentation to 50 attendees at "Camp Courage" at Lake Jacksonville Illinois about a 30 minute drive from Springfield.  The skies were a bit cloudy, but we were able to show the kids several sky objects that they would never have been able to see or may never see again.  Camp Courage is where terminally ill children, or children and young adults with severe disability attend a week long outing of fun and activities.  For those of you who were not able to attend, you missed a incredibly touching experience.  There was no shortage of the "WOWs, AH!, COOL," .  Even though many of the kids were wheelchair bound, we found that a right angle eyepiece or even picking them up from their wheel chair to let them have a look was an experience that none of us will ever regret doing.  I can not tell you how rewarding it was to have a non-communicative (autistic) little boy take hold of a simple red flashlight and have his face light up in excitement.  SAS would like to thank the Camp Attendees and Counselors of Camp Courage for asking us to come and share in a wonderful experience. Of all of the events that SAS has been a part of, this event will be one that I certainly will never forget. Larry Hardy (SAS President).. 

SAS does presentation for the St. Agnes Cub Scout Pack

The SAS held a club camp out at Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Park on July 16 and 17th.  The SAS entertained and awed three different Cub Scout Packs over the two evenings.  Once again, we can confirm that the skies at the park are wonderful for viewing, and the park is a perfect location to enjoy astronomy.

SAS at Camp CILCA

Members of the SAS were out at Camp CILCA which is just north of Springfield on June 23rd. SAS Members did a presenation for the young girls and allowed them to look through their scopes. For many of the girls, it was there first time seeing the planets, stars and moon up close. The event was both fun and educational. SAS would like to thank the administrators of Camp CILCA for inviting us out. We had a great time!

Venus Transit June 8th 2004

Members of the SAS were out at Centennial Park in Springfield on the morning of June 8th to witness the rare transit of Venus. Members started arriving early to setup their scopes as no one wanted to miss a moment of the transit.

The sun rose right on time at 5:30am and the transit was already well in progress. With a thick haze to the east, one could easilly see Venus on the disk of the Sun with the unaided eye. But as the Sun rose higher Mylar filters on scopes and binoculars was the only way to view the transit.

Third contact was recorded by members of the SAS at 6:05:19am and fourth contact was recorded at 6:25:10am..

Astronomy Day 2004

This years Astronomy Day event (May 8th) was a big success. We had a number of people come out during the day to see some solar observing and also view Venus and Jupiter in broad daylight.

Several people also came out that evening to see Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and also to catch a glimpse of comet NEAT.

SAS members were on hand to help people with setting up their own telescopes and show them how to properly operate them.

SAS would like to thank the Boy Scouts and the Lions Club who were on hand with food and refreshments for all who attended.

Thanks to everyone who came out and we hope to see again next year!

Messier Marathon

This years Messier Marathon was on March 19th - 20th. The event was held at the Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Park (Site M).

A Messier Marathon is an all night (or as long as you can stay awake!) search to try to identify as many of the Messier objects as you can, up to 110! If you time it right, are properly prepared, and try to find the objects in the best possible order, you'll find many of them!

Here is a great link that shows and explains all of the Messier Objects and more!

Because of the nature of viewing at the Messier Marathon, this was a PRIVATE EVENT.
It usually takes all of ones time to try to view all the objects in a single evening leaving no time for
the general public.

SAS shows the stars to the kids of Owen Marsh School

The members of SAS showed up at the Owen Marsh middle school on Jan 20th for a show and tell event. This particular event was for the parents and students to come and experience as much hands on and information gathering as possible in a two hour time slot.

The event was coordinated by the Larry Hardy (SAS President) and The Parent Teachers organization (PTO) from the school. Around 120 k-thru-6 kids came out on a very chilly night in Springfield. Club member Mike Robertson was showing off a great view of Saturn through his 8 in.
Celestron while other members were showing the Andromeda Galaxy, Orion Nebula, Venus and Pleiades.

Indoors SAS displayed video tapes of deep sky objects, CCD and Digital cameras, photographs, books on the night sky, a computer presentation on the Solar System designed by SAS member Kerry Wright.

Fun was had by all at this event. Thanks to Dr Brian Cross and his wife Carol for inviting us out for this event.