Two Public Star Gazes in May
Image credit: club member Jerry Sherman – taken at Grassland Mtn. Observatory
Continue to check this home page as weather could change the venue or postpone and possibly cancel a star gaze. Check again after 5:00 p.m. on the afternoon of the observing session for the latest info and update.
May 2025 update: Due to water damage caused by a roof leak, Lookout Obs. is temporarily closed.
16 May 2025 — Friday night — This public star gaze will be held at Grassland Mountain Observatory in Madison County, with a weather backup night of Saturday, 17 May. This event is free and open to everyone — registration is not necessary to attend. A temporary gate code, required for entry, will be provided here on the day of the star gaze by 5:00 p.m. Directions to Grassland Mountain Observatory can be found here. These star gazes normally conclude about 3 to 4 hours after sunset, and visitors are not permitted to stay past the conclusion time. Sunset occurs at 8:29 p.m.
23 May 2025 — Friday night — This public star gaze will be held at Grassland Mountain Observatory in Madison County, with a weather backup night of Saturday, 24 May. This event is free and open to everyone — registration is not necessary to attend. A temporary gate code, required for entry, will be provided here on the day of the star gaze by 5:00 p.m. Directions to Grassland Mountain Observatory can be found here. These star gazes normally conclude about 3 to 4 hours after sunset, and visitors are not permitted to stay past the conclusion time. Sunset occurs at 8:34 p.m.
24-30 May 2025
– Some Bright Evening Flyovers of the ISS
27-29 May 2025
– The Moon Passes Above Jupiter
Illustration courtesy of
SKY & TELESCOPE
31 May – 2 Jun. 2025
– The Moon Glides Past Mars and Regulus
Illustration courtesy of
SKY & TELESCOPE
5 June 2025 – Club Meeting Presentation
— Thursday night, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
This free speaker presentation will be offered in-person at the
UNC-Asheville Reuter Center and virtually online. Registration is not required; use this Zoom link to watch the presentation remotely.
Although parking for this meeting at the Reuter Center is free, you must register your vehicle with a “visitor daily” permit at this link. Once registration is complete, visitors will not need to print or display a permit; the new system utilizes camera-based License Plate Recognition technology. All vehicles must park front-end in, so that the license plate is visible.
Cryovolcanism: The Coolest Geological Process
– presented by
Jessica Noviello, Ph.D.,
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Many planetary bodies in the Solar System show evidence of cryovolcanism, which is the eruption of water, ice, and dissolved volatiles onto a body’s surface. Details about how cryovolcanism works and how it might work on different bodies, however, are open questions in planetary science.
Read more…