Tallahassee Astronomical Society

Welcome to the Tallahassee Astronomical Society, also affectionally known as "TAS"! We are a society of amateur astronomers eager to share our love of the night sky with others. We provide public outreach about astronomy, encourage each other in observing the night sky, and support community efforts to encourage stargazing, such as the Library Telescope program. We also work to limit or reduce light pollution. Without dark skies, we won't be able to see astronomical wonders such as the photo of the Sculptor galaxy in our header, above.

TAS welcomes anyone interested in astronomy, regardless of your age, income, experience level, or any other conditions. If you’re breathing and are interested in the night sky, get in touch!

Our club provides sidewalk observing at Cascades Park in downtown Tallahassee during the quarter moon, and we have a dark sky observatory with a Go-To-equipped 14" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope for use by our club members. We also conduct outreach and service activities throughout the community. Our club includes experienced and talented astrophotographers -- scroll down to see examples of their work in our image carousel!

On the first Saturday of each month, TAS conducts a FREE planetarium show, "Skies Over Tallahassee" at the Challenger Learning Center. This fun-filled (not to say "silly") show will keep you up to date with the ever-changing events in our heavens. Appropriate for any age.

See our Night Sky Network calendar for more information and to confirm times and dates.

Have you bought a telescope, and now you have no idea what to do with it? How to use it, what to look for, what to look at?

Or perhaps you are interested in just learning more about the heavens. Do you yearn to tap into the deeper mysteries of night sky -- the hidden seasonal order of constellations, the arcane lore of celestial coordinates, predicting the motions of the planets (and their satellites?) Does it ever blow your mind to think our Sun is a star, only 90 million miles away from us, and you'd love to know how to safely see what, exactly, is going on with that star?

Perhaps you have these skills and want to share them, or want to use your experience in the service of citizen science projects. TAS offers not only a friendly face to help you figure how to use that telescope, but also programs to help get the most from your astronomical experience. When you join TAS, you are also part of the Astronomical League, a national "club of clubs," with access to their vast array of observing programs and resources. They offer observing programs suitable for children, for beginners, intermediate or advanced observers -- all kinds of programs, for all kinds of people, with all kinds of interests. You really should see it for yourself.

To see what the Astronomical League can offer, as part of your TAS participation, check out these AL Observing Programs on their website. The Astronomical League is your gateway to an astronomical Shangri-la, and TAS is your gateway to the Astronomical League! We are here to answer questions, give advice, and help you get started. It's a journey we are all on, together!

TAS monthly meetings are held at the Challenger Learning Center, 200 S Duval Street, Tallahassee FL 32301. We generally meet the 3rd Monday of each month, but please check the NSN calendar for meeting dates and times, as well as for notices of any cancellations. See below for a map to the Challenger Learning Center in downtown Tallahassee.