Welcome to the WAA

We are a not–for–profit organization open to people of all ages with the desire to learn more about astronomy and who share an interest in viewing the universe. We range from enthusiastic amateurs and educators to casual stargazers and families. Everything you need to know about our organization is outlined below. Current astronomy news, feeds and astronomy resources can be found on the right side of the page.

Little Girl and Mom at park. (M. Gondek)

Newsletters

Read the latest SkyWAAtch newsletters:

We also have archived newsletters.

Monthly Lectures

Lectures are free and open to the public and begin at 8pm in the Andrus Planetarium, Hudson River Museum of Westchester, 511 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers, NY. WAA Directions. Here are the lecture dates:

May 2 – Brother Novak, TBA.

Attend our Social Hour at 7pm or the free Friday Star Nites planetarium show sponsored by Fuji Photo Film USA. And after the meeting we meet at Bennigan's for some casual conversations and a bite to eat.

Jimmy at Stellafane (G. Gondek)

Starway to Heaven

Starway to Heaven is our monthly observing night at The Meadow, Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, Cross River, NY. WAA Directions. The observing dates are:

April 5 — 8pm to 10pm. Raindate: April 12.
May 3 — 8:30pm to 10:30pm. Raindate: May 10.
June 21 — 9pm to 11pm. Raindate: June 28.
July 5 — 9pm to 11pm. Raindate: July 26.
August 2 — 8:30pm to 10:30pm. Raindate: August 9.
September 20 — 7pm to 9pm. Raindate: September 27.
October 4 — 7pm to 9pm. Raindate: October 25.
November 22 — 7pm to 9pm. Raindate: November 29.
December 20 — 7pm to 9pm. Raindate: December 27.

"Starway to Heaven" is free and open to the public through the generosity of the Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation. We encourage you to bring your telescope — especially if you need help using or setting it up. Don't have a telescope? You can look through our members' equipment. Call 1–877–456–5778 for weather cancellations. A good rule of thumb: Don't show up if you can't count more than 10 bright stars. Please read our General Observing Guidelines. The WAA cannot guarantee the turnout of members and telescopes during the winter months.

Membership

Annual dues are $25.00 per family which includes discounts on subscriptions to Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazines (see below). To join the WAA, fill out our application and send it along with a personal check or money order to our P.O. Box.

Inside the Andrus Planetarium (M. Gondek)

Magazine Discounts

For WAA members only. Sky and Telescope — $32.95. Make check payable to Sky Publishing. Astronomy — $34.00. Make check payable to Kalmbach Publishing. Please mail the completed renewal form, your payment and the return envelope (with proper postage) to our P.O. Box. If you subscribe to both magazines you need to fill out two separate renewals. New subscribers please enclose a note stating new subscription. Note any change of address.

WAA Staff

We'll be glad to answer all your questions; just send your inquiries to the appropriate officer — you'll have to manually type the addresses:

Picture of Charlie. Picture of Pat. Picture of Mike. Picture of Karen. Picture of John. Picture of Dave. Picture of Tom. Picture of Bob.

The "W"

The constellation Cassiopeia in its familiar "W" orientation as it appeared just above the treetops on Thursday, June 13, 1991 — the night the WAA was founded.

The WAA Logo (R. Davidson & P. Shug '92).

What's up in Space

From Spaceweather.com

  • TWIST AND SHOOT: Last week over a period of two days (May 9th and 10th) NASA's Stereo-B spacecraft observed a troupe of magnetic filaments dancing along on the limb of the sun. For reasons that will become clear when you watch the performance mission scientists have entitled the movie Twist ...
  • SOLAR CONJUNCTION: There's a nice sky show underway that would surely make news except for one thing: looking at it hurts! Venus and the Pleiades star cluster are converging on the Sun. (continued below) ...
  • LUNAR TRANSIT: On May 15th the International Space Station flew over Slovakia--and right in front of the Moon. A team of astronomers led by Roman Piffl had their Nikon D200 ready and they caught the winged silhouette passing just south of the Sea of Tranquillity: ...
  • Night Sky Notes

    From the Abrams Planetarium

    • Saturday, May 17, 2008
      Mars is 3° from the Beehive star cluster in Cancer the Crab. Watch next week as Mars moves closer to the cluster and passes in front of it on the 22nd of May. The Beehive cluster is also known as the Praesepe which is Latin for manger. The star cluster is over 500 light years away or 3000 trillion miles. Mars is much closer, only 1.77 AU or 164 million miles.
    • Sunday, May 18, 2008
      The Moon rises 50 minutes before sunset. Try and see both the Sun and Moon in the sky at the same time. As the Sun is setting in the WNW, turn around and look for a big Moon in the southeast.
    • Monday, May 19, 2008
      The Moon is Full at 10:11 p.m. EDT. This is the most distant Full Moon of the year. The Moon will be 252,000 miles from the Earth. The average distance to the Moon is 239,000 miles. This Full Moon is also a "Blue Moon". The term Blue Moon has more than one definition. One definition of a Blue Moon is the 3rd Full Moon in a season with four Full Moons. Another newer definition is the 2nd Full Moon in one month. Today is the 3rd Full Moon this Spring. The 4th Full Moon of Spring will be June 18th. This is unusual because most seasons only have three Full Moons.

    Astronomy Resources

    Almanacs and Calendars

    Astronomy News

    Auroras

    ATM

    Charts and Maps

    Clear Sky Clocks

    Clubs

    Databases

    Earth

    Light Pollution

    Moon

    Museums

    Satellite, ISS and Shuttle Passes

    Satellite Images

    Stargazing

    Sun

    Space Exploration

    Weather

    Webcams

    Additional

    The WAA is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.