Welcome to STAR Astronomy

S*T*A*R , the Society of Telescopy, Astronomy, and Radio, is the focal point for amateur astronomy in Monmouth County, NJ, attracting members of all ages, occupations and backgrounds. Founded in 1957, the club holds regular meetings, observing nights, star parties, trips and special activities such as amateur telescope making and assisting local schools, scouts and park systems in conducting public astronomy programs. The club owns several telescopes available to members including a 25” aperture Dobsonian, the largest portable telescope in the tri state area.

S*T*A*R meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month from September to June, at 8 pm at the Monmouth Museum on the campus of Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, NJ. Directions can be found here. Programs generally consist of lectures and discussions by members or guest speakers on a variety of interesting topics on astronomy. Refreshments are served during the meeting and, weather permitting, a short observing session may occur afterwards.

Everybody is welcome – please come along!   No telescope required!

Upcoming Events

  • February 18, 2010

    The annual star party for the seven 4th-Grade classes at Campbell Elementary is scheduled for Thursday 18 February (fallback TBA probably early March). The event runs 7-9PM, although folks tend to begin arriving 6:45. It's in the athletic field adjacent/west of the school. Campbell Elementary is at 8 Talmadge Avenue, Metuchen NJ. If you can help out with a telescope or binoculars please let me know. Thanks very much. Dave
     
    Please respond Dave N. on "Events and Observing Plans" link on the discussion board.
    Thanks, Rich G.

  • March 4, 2010

    Special Guest Speaker: Prof. Saurabh W. Jha, Rutgers University
     
    The last decade has seen a revolution in our understanding of the history and contents of our Universe. Professor Jha will describe how a class of exploding stars, called type Ia supernovae, are used to measure the expansion history of the Universe. Observations of bright, nearby supernovae (often discovered by amateur astronomers), combined with measurements of faint, distant supernovae have led to the astounding conclusion that the Universe is expanding faster and faster, driven by "dark energy" about which much remains to be learned.
     
     
     

  • March 19, 2010

    There will be a Star Party at the Pine Brook School for 4th-6th graders on Friday, March 19th from 7pm till 9pm. The school address is 155 Pease Rd., in Manalapan. Please watch the "Events and Observing Plans" link on the forums page to volunteer to help and for further updates.
    Rich Gaynor

Latest Spectrogram

The Spectrogram is the monthly newsletter for S*T*A*R Astronomy. It is published around the beginning of the month, September through June.

Inside this Issue

  • February’s Meeting
  • 2010 Calendar
  • January Minutes
  • S*T*A*R Membership
  • Building a Case Against Ozone
  • Suspected Asteroid Coillision
  • Streaming Video from ISS
  • Prometheus, Over Easy
  • Spaceship Mockup
  • NASA Names Lander
  • In The Eyepiece
  • February Celestial Events
  • Lunar Phases