Birmingham Astronomical Society

Last updated March 14, 2019

The Birmingham Astronomical Society was founded in 1977 in Birmingham, Alabama (USA), by amateur astronomers. Monthly meetings are held at 7:00 p.m. at the Samford University Planetarium on the third Tuesday of each month. Monthly observing sessions (see star party), are held at dark sky site called Chandler Mountain (approximately 50 miles northeast of Birmingham) or at Oak Mountain State Park just south of Birmingham. There is also a Birmingham Astronomical Society based in the UK, which meets in the basement of Aston University, near Birmingham (UK) city centre every Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m.

Birmingham is a city located in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. With an estimated 2017 population of 210,710, it is the most populous city in Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous and fifth largest county. As of 2017, the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 1,149,807, making it the most populous in Alabama and 49th-most populous in the United States. Birmingham serves as an important regional hub and is associated with the Deep South, Piedmont, and Appalachian regions of the nation.

Samford University is a Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College. Samford University is the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford University is Alabama's top-ranked private university. The university enrolls 5,619 students from 44 states and 30 countries. Samford University has been nationally ranked for academic programs, value and affordability by Kiplinger's Personal Finance and The Princeton Review.

A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation.

Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It applies mathematics, physics, and chemistry in an effort to explain the origin of those objects and phenomena and their evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and comets; the phenomena also includes supernova explosions, gamma ray bursts, quasars, blazars, pulsars, and cosmic microwave background radiation. More generally, all phenomena that originate outside Earth's atmosphere are within the purview of astronomy. A related but distinct subject is physical cosmology, which is the study of the Universe as a whole.

The clubs proximity to Huntsville and the Marshall Space Flight Center and United States Space & Rocket Center afford its members unique opportunities for education.

Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County and south into Morgan County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 census. Huntsville is the third-largest city in Alabama and the largest city in the five-county Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville, AL Combined Statistical Area, which at the 2013 census estimate had a total population of 683,871. The Huntsville Metropolitan Area's population was 417,593 in 2010 to become the 2nd largest in Alabama. Huntsville metro's population reached 441,000 by 2014.

The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), located in Huntsville, Alabama, is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. The largest NASA center, MSFC's first mission was developing the Saturn launch vehicles for the Apollo Moon program. Marshall has been the agency's lead center for Space Shuttle propulsion and its external tank; payloads and related crew training; International Space Station (ISS) design and assembly; and computers, networks, and information management. Located on the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Alabama, MSFC is named in honor of Army General George Marshall.

Events

In the spring of 2006 the club held its first annual Messier marathon, which is an all night observing session where members try to locate and document the entire Messier Catalog. Members braved near freezing (or colder) temperatures and bitter winds, but the event was a great success.

A Messier marathon is an attempt, usually organized by amateur astronomers, to find as many Messier objects as possible during one night. The Messier catalogue was compiled by French astronomer Charles Messier during the late 18th century and consists of 110 relatively bright deep-sky objects.

Membership

According to the club website, "Membership in the Birmingham Astronomical Society is open to anyone with an interest in astronomy. You do not have to own a scope or have a knowledge of astronomy to enjoy the wonders of the night sky."

Publications

The club publishes a Quarterly Newsscope which is available on the website in pdf format. In addition they have a blog (located at http://www.bas-astro.com/blog)set%5Bpermanent+dead+link%5D up so members and non-members can discuss events of the day.

External links

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