3 April 2025 – Club Meeting Presentation
— Thursday night, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
This free speaker presentation will be offered in-person at the UNC-Asheville Reuter Center and virtually online. Registration is not required; use this Zoom link to watch the presentation remotely.
Although parking for this meeting at the Reuter Center is free, you must register your vehicle with a “visitor daily” permit at this link. Once registration is complete, visitors will not need to print or display a permit; the new system utilizes camera-based License Plate Recognition technology. All vehicles must park front-end in, so that the license plate is visible.
The Search for Intelligent Life in the Cosmos
– presented by Seth Shostak, Ph.D., Senior Astronomer and Fellow at the SETI Institute
It has been nearly 60 years since the first attempt to sift the skies for radio signals that would betray the existence of intelligent beings beyond Earth. So far, nothing has been heard. Why? Could it be that we simply need to give these experiments more time to examine additional star systems? Or should we put more emphasis on other strategies? Read more…
4-5 April 2025
– Conjunction of the Moon with Mars
Illustration courtesy of
SKY & TELESCOPE
12 April 2025
– Conjunction of the Moon with Spica
Illustration courtesy of
SKY & TELESCOPE
Two Public Star Gazes in April
Image credit: club member Jerry Sherman – taken at Grassland Mtn. Observatory
Continue to check this home page as weather could change the venue or postpone and possibly cancel a star gaze. Check again after 5:00 p.m. on the afternoon of the observing session for the latest info and update.
18 April 2025 — Friday night — This public star gaze will be held at Grassland Mountain Observatory in Madison County, with a weather backup night of Saturday, 19 April. This event is free and open to everyone — registration is not necessary to attend. A temporary gate code, required for entry, will be provided here on the day of the star gaze by 5:00 p.m. Directions to Grassland Mountain Observatory can be found here. These star gazes normally conclude about 3 to 4 hours after sunset, and visitors are not permitted to stay past the conclusion time. Sunset occurs at 8:06 p.m.
25 April 2025 — Friday night — The location for this star gaze will be Lookout Observatory on the UNC Asheville campus, with a weather backup date of Saturday, 26 April.
Due to water damage in the observatory building, the primary telescopes will not be available for this star gaze. However, a number of quality, portable telescopes will be set up for visitors to observe celestial objects.
While the event is free and open to everyone, pre-registration is required to attend. To learn more about how to register, please visit the UNCA Lookout Observatory website here. Sunset occurs at 8:11 p.m., with shuttle service beginning about 8:50 p.m.
21/22 April 2025
– Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks
Illustration courtesy of
SKY & TELESCOPE