West Jersey Astronomical Society  www.wasociety.us

Welcome to the Official Home Page of the West Jersey Astronomical Society (additionally known as the Willingboro Astronomical Society). Our club is in its 55th year of serving both the public and the amateur astronomers of the Delaware Valley. We have a long history of public education, star parties, interesting meetings, in-depth training and experienced leadership. We are a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Click here for membership information, including a PayPal link to pay dues (click here to make a separate donation). Members in good standing have access to the gated Barnegat Road Observing Site in the dark New Jersey Pines, while Atsion Field in the Pines is available to those with valid membership cards.

 

President:

Vice President:

Secretary:

Treasurer:

Al Meloni

Wade Evans

Suzanne Leap

Jim Brennan

      

Announcements   Last Update: Monday, February 21, 2022

Mar 2 New Moon at 12:35 pm EST in Aquarius.
Mar 4 Formal Meeting, at the Virtua Health and Wellness Center in Moorestown, NJ, 7:30 pm. We are now meeting in-person at Virtua! It will also be simulcast via Zoom (log-on information posted to the WAS e-group). Guests are welcome at Virtua.
Mar 13 Daylight Savings Time begins, 2 am EST becomes 3 am EDT ("Spring ahead, Fall back").
Mar 18 Full Moon at 3:18 am EDT in western Virgo.
Mar 18 Informal Meeting, at the Virtua Health and Wellness Center in Moorestown, NJ, 7:30 pm.
Mar 20 Equinox at 11:33 am EDT, the Vernal (or Spring) Equinox for the Northern Hemisphere.
Apr 9 NEAF, the Northeast Astronomy Forum returns in-person to Suffren, NY, April 9-10, 2022.
Apr 21 Public Star Watch at Historic Smithville Park in Easthampton, NJ (near Mt Holly), 7:30 to 10:30 pm. Participation is limited and guests must register (no fee) at the Burlington County Parks site (at the top, select Nature Programs, scroll down to the Outdoors section and click Star Watches then Star Watch 4/21). Registration opens April 7.
Note: The Public Star Watch season for 2021 was lost to COVID-19 restrictions; however, plans for 2022 are nearly complete. Member observing at the Barnegat Road Observing Site commenced in July 2021 (sessions organized through the WAS e-group), and WAS members are now permitted nighttime observing at Atsion Field in Wharton State Forest, as long as they are carrying their membership card and have astronomical equipment in use.

Photo Spotlight   Image posted 2.02.2022

Club member Dave Neunheuser captured this image of Messier 42, the Great Nebula in Orion, along with its nearby companion nebula, M43, from light-polluted Gloucester City, NJ, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, PA. Taken on January 26, 2022, with a Finger Lakes Microline 6303 CCD camera and a 12-inch, f/8 (2440 mm focal length) Meade LX200-ACF, Advanced Coma Free, Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope tracking on an Astro-Physics 1100 German equatorial mount. For this monochrome image, Dave used a Wratten #25 (red) filter and exposed 35 subs at 15 seconds each. Processed with ImagesPlus and PixInsight.

 

Click here for the previous home page image.

 

Click to contact the . Members are encouraged to submit their astronomical images to the webmaster for inclusion on the WAS Home Page. Be sure to include a description, date and time, as well as equipment and photo data.

Astrospheric Forecast for the Barnegat Road Observing Site

Star & Constellation Pronunciation Guides

Lunar X Predictions (UT)