December 18, 2024

Welcome to the Miami Valley Astronomical Society

The John Bryan State Park Observatory

Since 1918 the MVAS has been the face of amateur astronomy in the Miami Valley dedicated to educating the public about science of astronomy and fostering the growth of amateur astronomy and fellowship. To that end, the non-profit MVAS, annually engages thousands of individuals through its monthly meetings, stargazes, and outreach programs. The Society also operates the John Bryan Observatory (JBO) located at John Bryan State Park.

Next General Meeting

Unless otherwise posted, the MVAS holds General Meetings starting at 7:00 PM on the second Friday of each month at the VFW Post #3283, 5074 Nebraska Ave., Huber Heights, Ohio. These meetings usually include 30-45 minutes of business and discussions, followed by a brief social period and a 30 to 45-minute program.

Note that the VFW has a long driveway and sits behind the American Legion Post 200 on Nebraska Avenue. Please turn into the driveway with the VFW sign and follow back to the VFW building. If you use Google Maps (or similar software) to guide you to the VFW, make sure that the directions include turning onto Nebraska Ave. It has come to our attention that such web-enabled software has instructed some people to park on Bellefontaine Rd or Leeper St and walk across private property to reach the VFW. We do not recommend this.

Our next General Meeting is scheduled for Friday, December 13th starting at 7:00 PM at the VFW Post #3283, 5074 Nebraska Ave. Steve Hildenbrandt will present the next installment of Constellation of the Month; Camelopardalis. If you’d like to share your astrophotos be sure to send them to Stephen Hildenbrandt at Events@MVAS.org by Wednesday before the meeting so he can include them in the slide deck. The program for this month is Tools, Techniques, Tactics, & Procedures presented by various MVAS members. In this program, Kyle Berger will discuss how to make iPhones dark-adapted safe; Gary Cook will discuss how to make and use an inexpensive manual tracking mount for astrophotography for clear, widefield imaging of up to five minutes; Marcus Acton will discuss how he takes flats in the field and digitally assembles mosaics, as well as present the evolution of his rolling (not roll-off roof) observatory; lastly, Steve Hildenbrandt will talk about constructing budget-friendly parallelogram mounts for binoculars. The meeting will conclude with door and raffle prize drawings. This month’s raffle prize is Oberwerk 8×40 Mariner waterproof binoculars featuring fully broadband multi-coated optics and BaK-4 prisms.

The MVAS on Facebook… While we do luvs our trusty old web site some may find our Official Facebook page easier to use for sharing posts and asking questions. Be sure to visit us at…

www.facebook.com/miamivalleyastro

The MVAS on Discord… MVAS members can now join other members on our Discord server. MVAS members can use the invitation link below to join our group…

MVAS on Discord

Keep Looking Up!