Public Events
Public Open Houses: Open Houses are free, public sessions for stargazing with telescopes that are usually, but not always, held at the West Lafayette Observatory (WLO) or Prairie Grass Observatory (PGO). The events normally include an astronomy-related presentation and constellation finding. In addition to observatory telescopes being made available, club members also share their telescopes with the public to look at various celestial objects of interest. Visitors may come and go as they please. The stargazing portion of the event is cancelled if the weather is mostly cloudy, raining, or very windy.
Public Event Schedule:
NOTE: Due to an as-yet-unresolved bug, dates in the following schedule are one day later than the date of the actual event. E.g., an event on Nov. 4 will be erroneosly listed as being on Nov. 5. Please bear with us until we get the problem figured out and fixed. Meeting dates and event dates on the Home page are correct.
Date | Location | Event Description |
|---|---|---|
08/15/2021 | Shades State Park, Waveland, IN | Shades State Park Astronomy Day |
04/02/2023 | West Lafayette Observatory | Free public stargazing with astronomical telescopes will take place, weather permitting, from 8:30-10 p.m. A presentation, "Space Gardening: Growing plants in Microgravity and on the Moon", is planned, even if the sky is mostly cloudy. This is a free event. |
05/07/2023 | West Lafayette Observatory | Free public stargazing with astronomical telescopes will take place, weather permitting, from 9-10:30 p.m. A presentation, "The Sounds of Space", will be given, even if the sky is mostly cloudy. This is a free event. |
06/03/2023 | West Lafayette Observatory | Public solar observing with specially filtered astronomical telescopes will take place, weather permitting, from 1-3 p.m. A presentation about the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse will be given inside the observatory. This is a free event. |
06/10/2023 | Tippecanoe County Amphitheater | Outdoor Explore! This Tippecanoe County Parks and Recreation event showcases summer outdoor activities, including astronomy. WVAS will have a booth describing our activities and to display astronomical telescopes. Solar viewing glasses will be available for purchase. |
07/21/2023 | Camp Cullom | Indiana Family Star Party. See https://indianastars.com/starparty/ |
09/10/2023 | West Lafayette Observatory | Public stargazing with astronomical telescopes will take place at the West Lafayette Observatory, weather permitting, from 8:30-10 p.m. A presentation about the Solar Cycle will be given, even if the sky is mostly cloudy. This is a free event. |
10/08/2023 | West Lafayette Observatory | Public stargazing with astronomical telescopes will take place, weather permitting, from 8:30-10 p.m. A presentation about the October 14 partial solar eclipse will be given, even if the sky is cloudy. This is a free event. |
11/05/2023 | West Lafayette Observatory | Our annual free pre-holiday Telescope Fair is for anyone considering acquiring an astronomical telescope for themselves or as a gift. Various types of telescopes are discussed, followed by hands-on observing (weather permitting) with multiple telescopes of different design and sizes. |