Next Public Star Gaze
26 Apr. 2024 — Friday night — The location for this star gaze will be Lookout Observatory on the UNC Asheville campus, with a weather backup date of Saturday, 27 April. While the event is free and open to everyone, pre-registration is required to attend. To learn more about how to register, please visit the UNCA Lookout Observatory website here. Sunset occurs at 8:13 p.m., with shuttle service beginning about 9:00 p.m.
Monday, Apr. 8, 11:00 a.m. update: Weather conditions look favorable for this afternoon’s solar eclipse viewing at parking lot P34 on the UNC-A campus. First contact is at 1:52 p.m. Eclipse glasses will be available while supplies last.
8 April 2024
– The Great
North American
Solar Eclipse, and
How/Where To
View It Locally
Ilustration created with
SkySafari software
9-11 April 2024
– The Moon Visits Jupiter and the Pleiades
Illustration courtesy of
Sky & Telescope
18-22 April 2024
– A Jupiter Conjunction with Uranus
Illustration created with SkySafari software
21-23 April 2024
– Close Encounter of the Moon with the Bright Star Spica
Illustration courtesy of
Sky & Telescope
2 May 2024 – 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.
Artist illustration of The Local Bubble
Cosmic-Ray Mysteries in the Light of the Sun and the Shadow of the Moon
– presented by
Enrique Alberto Gómez, Ph.D.,
Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Western Carolina University
The Solar System has spent the last few million years in a rough neighborhood of the Milky Way galaxy called The Local Bubble, carved by the winds of ancient supernovae. This is an environment characterized by higher than usual ionizing radiation from those ancient supernovae called cosmic rays. Read more…