The Next General Meeting of the Astronomical Society will be held on Monday April 3rd via Zoom and will feature a presentation by ASH member Bob Naeye. A Zoom invite 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.  See below for a preview of Bob's presentation:

How did the universe come into being, and how do we know what we know? At the April 3 ASH general meeting, former Sky & Telescope editor in chief and current ASH member Bob Naeye will discuss the many great successes of the Big Bang Theory, and how it accounts for many of the observed features of our universe. He will describe how the inflation model improved upon the original Big Bang Theory, and the stunning discovery that the universe’s expansion is accelerating. But not all is well in the cosmology world. Bob will also discuss recent observations that have revealed cracks in the Big Bang edifice, including discrepancies in different methods for measuring the universe’s expansion rate, and the recent discovery with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope of galaxies that were so big and so early in cosmic history that they should not exist. This nontechnical presentation will give you a mind-bending tour of modern cosmological science.

Our next Public Observing session is planned for Saturday April 29th. Gates for the public will open at 830pm. The event will only be held if the weather is good enough to view objects through our telescopes, so please check this website, the Naylor Observatory Facebook page, or call the observatory at 717-938-6041 for a recorded message on the day of the event to make sure it will be held. Please see our Public Observing page for more information on attending.

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 March 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. 

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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