Boothe Memorial Astronomical Society
Mission
Promoting astronomy and science education throughout the community, through hands-on learning and fun activities. Events are free for visitors - if you want to become a member, our dues are very reasonable.
General Info
Meetings are held the first and third Fridays of each month and visitors are welcome!
Follow us on Twitter: @AstroBMAS and Facebook: BMAS
Location
The BMAS observatory is located at Boothe Memorial Park on Main St. in the Putney area of Stratford, CT.
Although we are not large enough to support astronomy symposium we do recommend attending lectures put on by our colleagues at the nearby Westport Astronomical Society (WAS).
The Westport Astronomical Society’s Free Monthly Lecture Series & Events
July 20 or 21 - Family Fun Day at Wakeman Town Farm Solar Star Party - Volunteers needed!
August 1-4 - Stellafane
August 20 - Steve Conard of IOTA and The Bob Meadows Stellafane Report!
September 6 - UTC Private Star Party in Danbury
September 14 & 15 - K1B - PT Barnum Special Event Station in the K1WAS ham shack
September 17 - Johanna Vos, AMNH - The Brown Dwarf / Exoplanet Connection
September 27-28 - CSP29 (The Connecticut Star Party)
October 5 - International Observe The Moon Night
October 15 - Dr. Rebecca Oppenheimer, Curator AMNH - Degenerates of the Universe
November 19 - Dr. Fabio Pacucci - Clay/BHI Fellow at Harvard - The Hunt for the First Black Holes in the Universe
Upcoming Astronomical Events (compiled by WAS):
July 16 - Partial Lunar Eclipse
August 9 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation
October 20 - Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation
October 27 - Uranus at Opposition
November 11 - Rare Transit of Mercury Across the Sun. The planet Mercury will move directly between the Earth and the Sun. Viewers with telescopes and approved solar filters will be able to observe the dark disk of the planet Mercury moving across the face of the Sun. This is an extremely rare event that occurs only once every few years. The next transit of Mercury will not take place until 2039. This transit will be visible throughout all of South America and Central America, and parts of North America, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The best place to view this event in its entirety will be the eastern United States, Central America, and South America. (Transit Visibility Map and Information)
November 24 - Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter
November 28 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation
December 26 - Annular Solar Eclipse. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is too far away from the Earth to completely cover the Sun. This results in a ring of light around the darkened Moon. The Sun's corona is not visible during an annular eclipse. The path of of the eclipse will begin in Saudi Arabia and move east through southern India, northern Sri Lanka, parts of the Indian Ocean, and Indonesia before ending in the Pacific Ocean. A partial eclipse will be visible throughout most of Asia and northern Australia.
(NASA Map and Eclipse Information) (NASA Interactive Google Map)