A worldwide community of amateur astronomers sharing observations, tracking celestial events, and pushing the boundaries of backyard astronomy.
Mark your calendar for these celestial highlights
One of the oldest known meteor showers, producing up to 18 meteors per hour at peak. Best viewed after midnight from dark-sky locations. The waning crescent moon will cooperate this year.
Add to Calendar →A total lunar eclipse visible across the Americas and Western Europe. Totality lasts approximately 85 minutes with the moon taking on a deep copper-red hue at mid-eclipse.
Add to Calendar →Saturn reaches opposition, shining at its brightest for the year. The rings are tilted at a favorable angle, making this an ideal time for telescope observations and astrophotography.
Add to Calendar →Three nights of communal stargazing at Cherry Springs State Park. Guest speakers, telescope workshops, astrophotography sessions, and dark-sky observing. All experience levels welcome.
Add to Calendar →Stunning astrophotography from our members around the world
Community-reviewed telescopes to match your experience level
The gold standard for serious amateurs. Excellent optics with GoTo tracking, making it easy to find deep-sky objects. Heavy but worth the setup time. Pairs beautifully with a DSLR for planetary imaging.
Grab-and-go Newtonian with IntelliScope navigation. No motorized tracking, but the push-to database with 14,000 objects makes finding targets intuitive. Great first real telescope.
Research-grade Schmidt-Cassegrain with GPS alignment, field derotator, and precision tracking. Essentially a small observatory in a tube. The go-to choice for serious astrophotography.
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