The Next General Meeting of the Astronomical Society will be held on Monday February 6th at 730pm. The meeting will be held online via Zoom. Zoom invites to the meeting will be sent to members closer to the day of the meeting. Any non member wishing to attend can contact president@astrohbg.org to get a Zoom invite for the meeting. See our meeting page for more information.

We will reopen for Public Observing Sessions in March 2023 - please see our Public Observing page for the dates and times. Please plan to join us for a night under the stars!

ASH's Public Observing Sessions

ASH's has public observing sessions planned during the warmer weather months where we open our observatory up for the public to view objects through our telescopes! Please see the public observing page for dates and times! . The Public Observing sessions are held at ASH's Naylor Observatory located at 670 Observatory Drive in Lewisberry PA. The public is able to view celestial objects through telescopes located in multiple observatory buildings. Also be sure to see our meteor collection located in the Asper Building! We can only hold the events when the sky is clear enough to use the telescopes, so if it is cloudy or raining we will have to cancel the session. If we are forced to cancel a session, we will announce it on this website, on the Naylor Observatory Facebook page, or you can call the observatory at 717-938-6041 30 minutes before sunset on the day of the session to see if it is cancelled.

Public Observing

We invite you and your family to visit Naylor Observatory on selected evenings this year. Come and observe the beauty of the moon, planets, double stars, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies with your own eyes through our large telescopes. Admission is free.

Cherry Springs Star Party

The Astronomical Society of Harrisburg is proud to host the Cherry Springs Star Party each spring at Cherry Springs State Park in Potter County, PA, an IDA dark sky park. This star party is a 3 day gathering of more than 400 amateur astronomers and night sky lovers who gather to observe together, listen to speakers, and enjoy each other's company under some of the darkest skies east of the Mississippi River.

Registration is required to attend the party and is planned to open in Spring 2023 for the 2023 Cherry Springs Star Party which will take place from June 15th to June 18th 2023 at Cherry Springs State Park - Cherrysprings.org

Introductory Observational Astronomy Course is planned to be held again in Spring 2023 - check back for start date.

Our six-week Introductory Observational Astronomy course will be held spring and fall on Wednesdays beginning the first weeks of April and September. Classes will be at the observatory from 7 to 9 pm, followed by informal observing with telescopes, weather permitting. Cost is $50 and includes a copy of Peterson’s Field Guide for Stars & Planets; an Edmund Scientific Star & Planet Locator planisphere and an ESSCO Star Chart. The course is limited to those 14 years and older. Please pass the word to your friends. Send a check to “ASH” c/o Bob Young, 224 Herr St., Harrisburg PA 17102. For more info contact Bob at youngbob2@aol.com.

Membership - Join ASH

ASH Membership Benefits Include:

  • Access to the Naylor Observatory and training on club telescopes

  • Members only observation times

  • Monthly Stardust Newsletter

  • Use of the ASH Library and loaner telescopes / astronomy gear

  • Access to dark sky sites

Contact the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg

Mailing address for the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg

Astronomical Society of Harrisburg

P.O. Box 160

Lewisberry, PA 17339