Our meetings are held at 7:00pm on the third Tuesday of the months of September through June at the Laurel Manor Recreation Center. No meetings are held in July or August.

SPECIAL THANKS:

The Villages Astronomy Club wishes to extend a very special thanks to Dr. Ken Kremer for his outstanding presentation on our solar system planets and the exciting insight he gave us into the 5 years spent on the Red Planet with "Spirit" and "Opportunity". Dr. Kremer enhanced his presentation with his custom created Martian mosaics and spectacular 3-D images placing you "Beyond Earth". Dr. Kremers presentation was viewed by over 100 astronomy enthusiast.

Be sure to visit Dr. Kremer's web page http://planetary.org/blog/article/00001954/ to view his article on the latest space shuttle mission. Note the last picture in the article of our clubs 100 enthusiast.

Visit our "Event Photos" page for photos of Tuesdays presentation.

NEW: As a new feature of our club there will be presented every week a 30 minute DVD pre-meeting (starts at 6:30pm) lecture by Professor Alex Filippanko of the University of California. This weeks DVD lecture is on " A Grand Tour of Our Universe.

NEW: For Villages Astronomy Club Members only a New DVD Lecture Library Series is available. There are 18 presentations of 30 minutes each that can be borrowed from the clubs' Library. The lectures are by Provessor Alex Pilippenko.

NEW: Village and Plantation astronomy club members are invited to join the VPAG (Villages & Plantations Astronomy Group). VPAG is a no cost discussion group hosted by Yahoo. Members can post messages and ask questions about things astronomical, as well as access files and photos. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/vpag/

Starry Starry Night was held on February 28, 2009 in the area behind the Saddlebrook Softball Complex. Telescopes and other astronomy devices were set up for the general public to enjoy. Our turn out was absolutely great! It was estimated that over 500 people turned out for our Starry Starry Night. Thanks to all those people who showed up and helped to make this a truely outstanding event.

WINNERS OF TELESCOPE RAFFLE:

1st. Place: Vince Leonard

2ed. Place: Gregory DeSantis

3ed. Place: Sonja Ruebelman

Special Event

Several times a year we host Starry Starry Night events. Our next event is scheduled for a Saturday in October 2009 at dusk in the area behind the Saddlebrook Softball Complex. Telescopes and other astronomy devices are set up for the general public to be exposed to the wonders of the universe. All members with or without a telescope are encouraged to participate and share their knowledge. Bring your children and grandkids to this wonderful and well attended event which will also include food vendors. Often we are also joined by another astronomy club from the area. For all star gazers, to find The Villages on the internet go to: http://itouchmap.com/latlong . To locate The Villages viewing site, input + 28.932 deg. North Latitude, - 81.996 deg. West Longitude into the appropriate boxes.

Mission Statement

The Villages Astronomy Club is open to all The Villages residents and their guests having an interest in astronomy. Our monthly meetings focus on sharing our knowledge and learning about the latest theories and developments in astronomy. Our goal is to develop community programs and encourage member participation in an effort to enhance our members' and community's awareness of our solar system and universe.

M78 NGC2068 NEBULA

SSRO Messier 78/NGC2068 Nebula

HORSEHEAD NEBULA

IN THE CENTER OF THE TRIFID NEBULA

Credit & Copyright: Daniel Lopez (Observatorio del Teide)