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 4:00 p.m. on the afternoon of the observing session for the latest info and update.
10 Apr. 2026 — Friday night — This public star gaze will be held at Grassland Mountain Observatory in Madison County, with a weather backup night of Saturday, 11 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 4:00 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 7:59 p.m.
17 Apr. 2026 — Friday night — The location for this star gaze will be Lookout Observatory on the UNC Asheville campus, with a weather backup date of Saturday, 18 April. 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 8:05 p.m., with shuttle service beginning about 9:00 p.m.
18-19 Apr. 2026
– The Moon Visits Venus and the Pleiades
Illustration courtesy of
SKY & TELESCOPE
22 Apr. 2026
– The Moon Passes Above the Planet Jupiter in the Constellation Gemini
Illustration created with SkySafari and PowerPoint software
22-23 Apr. 2026
– The Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks
Illustration courtesy of
SKY & TELESCOPE
23 Apr. 2026
– Conjunction of the Planet Venus with the Pleiades Star Cluster
Illustration courtesy of
SKY & TELESCOPE
7 May 2026 – 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 is free for this event at the UNC-Asheville Reuter Center, you must register your vehicle with a “Visitor 5pm – 6am” permit type at this link. Once registration is complete, visitors will not need to print or display a permit; the system utilizes camera-based License Plate Recognition technology. All vehicles must park front-end in, so that the license plate is visible.
Mercury: A Speedy, Elusive, and Mysterious Planet
– presented by
Bernard Arghiere,
a Past Astronomy Club of Asheville President and a Lifelong Sky Observer
Of all the “naked-eye” planets, Mercury is surely the one that most naked-eyes have not seen! It never orbits far from our Sun in the sky, making it challenging to observe. You always need to plan ahead to wittingly locate it in our twilight skies.
This presentation will discuss locating Mercury in our skies, its rare but wonderful transits across our Sun’s disk, and its unique planetary statistics. Furthermore, Mr. Arghiere will describe the special connection of Uranus and Neptune to solving a problem with Mercury’s orbit, as well as summarize the 3 exploratory missions to Mercury.