Shenandoah Astronomical Society

About Us

The Shenandoah Astronomical Society is a non-profit astronomy club serving the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and West Virginia. The club meets at Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown, Virginia on the second Monday each month. The meetings begin at 7:00 pm and normally include a member’s discussion period and an Astronomical related program or video presentation. The club also organizes one or more star parties several months out of the year. Come look through our telescopes, or bring yours and we can show you how to use it. The public is always welcome.

Membership Application

Annual Dues: $ 20.00

The Shenandoah Astronomical Society Meets in the Board Room at Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown, Virginia. Meetings are held on the second Monday each month. The meetings begin at 7:00 pm and normally include a member’s discussion period and an Astronomical related program or video presentation. A newsletter is prepared and posted on the SAS website at: http://shenandoahastronomical.org. All SAS monthly meetings are open to the public.

Membership dues are $ 20.00 annually, renewable in January. If you wish to join, please copy this document and fill in the information in the box below and send in the application with a check for $ 20.00, or bring the filled in application to the next club meeting.

Club dues include membership in the Astronomical League and a subscription to their quarterly newsletter, The Reflector.

If you join other than in January, please remit $ 2.00 for each remaining month of the year. Club members may also place subscriptions to Sky and Telescope and/or Astronomy Magazine at reduced rates.

For information on subscriptions, contact SAS Treasurer:

Dane Toler at, dtoler2@comcast.net or by phone at: 540-636-9383.

By-Laws

The purpose of this club is to promote astronomy as an educational and recreational activity.

ARTICLE I: Name: The name of the club shall be:

                              THE SHENANDOAH ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
    

ARTICLE II: Membership: Anyone may become a member of this Society by submitting their name and address to the Treasurer and paying the current dues.

ARTICLE III: Officers: The officers of this society shall be President, Vice-President for Programs and education, Secretary, Treasurer, Publications Editor, and Web Master. Officers shall be elected by a majority vote of members present at a regular meeting as defined below. The terms of office shall be one (1) year, starting July 1st.

ARTICLE IV: Meetings: Regular meetings shall be held monthly on the second Monday of the month. Two or more officers may call special meetings. Business may be conducted for the Society at regular and special meetings provided a quorum of seven members is present.

ARTICLE V: Dues: Dues may be levied by the officers with the concurrence of a two-thirds vote of the members present at a regular business meeting.

ARTICLE VI: Officer Duties:

President appoints the Nominating Committee, interim officer replacements, Auditor, Committee Chairpersons and Project Leaders, and leads officers in planning and executing activities of the Society.

Vice-President for Programsand Education leads and coordinates contact with local schools and organizations. Presides at meetings in the absence of the President, provides public information, program press and broadcast copy. Acts as Society interface with Lord Fairfax Community College.

Treasurer Collects dues and performs the banking functions for the Society and makes payment for equipment and services at the request of Officers and in accord with the Society budget as developed by this officer and approved by majority vote of members present. Presides at meetings in the absence of the Vice-President for Programs and education. Collects for special events as directed by officer in charge.

Secretary keeps the official member list, addresses, telephone numbers, E-mail addresses and other information as required for the good of the membership. Assists the Treasurer as needed.

Publications Editor compiles and distributes the Society’s Monthly Newsletter from the information and articles obtained and/or provided. Sets deadlines for and produces monthly mailing to members. Coordinates with Webmaster for publication of articles and photos as appropriate.

Observing Committee Chairperson, appointed by the President, selects members of the Observing Committee and directs the activities of the Committee in presenting the Public Astronomical Observation Activities of the Society.

Web Master maintains the societies website through posting and updating club information including current officers, membership forms, club meeting dates and star party dates, photographs from club members, links to other resources and other information as desired by the club.

ARTICLE VII: Amendments: These By-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of members present and voting at a regular business session, subject to the business conduct requirements of ARTICLE IV above. Any proposed amendments must be announced one (1) month in advance of a vote on the amendments.

ADDENDA: Membership dues are twenty dollars ($20.00) per year, renewable January 1st of each year. New members joining after March 1st will remit two dollars ($2.00) for each month remaining in the calendar year. SAS membership will include all immediate family residing with the member of record.

ADDENDA: The club will obtain and maintain liability insurance through its affiliation with the Astronomical League.

Star Party Location

Title	Author	Hits
Shenandoah County Soccer Plex	Super User	4076
Club Meetings - Lord Fairfax Community College Board Room	Super User	1392
Strasburg Town Park	Super User	3721
Shenandoah County Park	Super User	3690
Andy Guest State Park	Super User	3841

Ressources

Useful Links

Polar Alignment of your Equatorial Mount
Polar Alignment of a Telescope on Equatorial Mount
The Ultimate Messier Object Log
The Caldwell Object Log
The Overlooked Objects Log
The Simple Observing Log
AstronomyLogs.Com
Always Free for Download - Observation logs for DeepSky Observing and Astronomical Resources

Astronomy Software

Cartes du Ciel Sky Charts
Planetarium / Sky Charts

Stellarium
Excellent beginners/advanced Planetarium / Sky Charts program

Virtual Moon Atlas
An excellent Atlas of the Moon

Starry Night
An excellent Planetarium / Sky Charts program

Websites

Stardate online
public education and outreach arm of the University of Texas McDonald Observatory

Morgan County Observatory
A local observatory that has regular observing sessions. Visit the site to see their public observing schedule and other events. This site has many additional astronomy links to explore.

Sky & Telescope online

Astronomy magazine online

Amateur Astronomy magazine
A British Amateur Astronomy Magazine

International Dark-Sky Association