Latest news!
For the latest updates, visit the Amateur Astronomers Group on Facebook.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the AAG star parties at Oliver Lee Memorial State Park. We have not had a star party since February 2020, though we have checked with the state park several times over the past year to when we can resume events. The local park officals are on-board as are members of AAG. Unfortunately, we have not been given the go-ahead. The same holds true for events at the NM Museum of Space History. Bear with us and check our Facebook pages for new images and latest news!
An upcoming annular solar eclipse will occur over New Mexico on October 14, 2023 and a total eclipse will cross the US on April 8, 2024 . While not in the path of maximum obscuration, Alamogordo is still well positioned for the 2023 annular eclipse.
The next upcoming Mercury transit will occur on November 13, 2032. First contact will occur at 06:41 UTC with maximum at 09:54 UTC and last contact at 11:05 UTC. This will not be visible in the U.S. The next Mercury transit visible in the US will be in 2049.
The numbers are in! The Amateur Astronomers Group interfaced with 2,170+ children, adults and educators at 44 events in the 2017-2018 school year. The group donated STEM outreach materials to local schools to include: NASA lithographs, rulers, diffraction gratings, posters, stickers, solar glasses, spacecraft models and model rockets (and several liters of liquid nitrogen for experiments!).
A Pro-Am campaign will be conducted when comet 46P/Wirtanen comes within 0.078 AU of the Earth in late 2018. 46P/Wirtanen has a somewhat chaotic orbit due to close passes by Jupiter in 1972 and 1984. 21P/Giacobini-Zinner is the parent comet of the October Draconid meteors and should be visible during its 16th apparition starting in June 2018 with closest approach in September 2018 when it is 0.39 AU from the Earth.
The New Mexico State Parks Division has awarded the 2015 Partnership Award to the Amateur Astronomers Group in recognition of our distinguished service to Oliver Lee Memorial State Park. The group has been supporting the park's night sky interpretive program for the past decade.
The NASA Night Sky Network and Space Place Team has awarded the Amateur Astronomers Group Certificates of Appreciation for encouraging science and technology education through our public events.
Click Here to see some photos of our events.
The Amateur Astronomers Group is affiliated with the NASA Space Place Astronomy Club Partner Program. We also team with other NASA missions and the National Solar Observatory. Check out the AAG Classroom page for fun links to NASA's Space Place website.
The Amateur Astronomers Group is affiliated with the OPT Rewards Program. Get discounts on telescope equipment ordered through OPT. See Group members for details!
Current issues of The AAG Newsletter science articles, courtesy Space Place, may be viewed in your browser using an Adobe Acrobat Reader application. If you do not have Acrobat Reader installed, you can obtain it from the Adobe website by clicking the button below.
Previous back-issues of The AAG Newsletter science articles are also available. Select an issue from the menu to bring up the PDF for that month's issue. If you have the Adobe Reader Plug-in installed in your browser, the document will appear in your browser window.
If you are interested in past activities of the Amateur Astronomers Group, please check out our Yahoo Groups page.
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