YAS Directory

Links Map

The Yakima Astronomical Society (YAS) serves the Central Washington State area of the USA. The original Yakima Valley Astronomy Club was formed in January 1990 by Mac Knight and Larry Bresson. In January 2003, the name was changed to Yakima Astronomical Society. The original group grew out of a mirror grinding class Mac and Larry put on at the Hoover Elementary School, using funds from the Ridgeview PTA. The club evolved from there and now has about 15 to 20 active members.

The YAS is active in the Yakima community, putting on public observing sessions at various times during the year and bringing there telescopes out for the public at special astronomical events. We start observing in March with our Messier Marathon. Print our Messier check sheet for help in observing these objects. See our schedule in the News & Events section for our Public Observing Sessions during the Spring, Summer and Fall months. Enjoy our Clear Sky Clock, and Weather link for Yakima on this page. If you are interested in astronomy and would like to observe the night sky, read the next paragraph on how to begin your celestial journey.

Many of you may want to enjoy the splendor of the night sky and learn more about where the constellations and planets are located. Begin your journey with binoculars or naked eye and a simple planisphere or a planetarium program for your computer like the free Stellarium. If you have a child interested in astronomy a good telescope to begin with is the Galileoscope or the popular Astroscan. If you want a good basic telescope to start with, the XT8 Dobsonian from Orion is very popular. Try Sky & Telescope's Interactive Sky Chart or Getting Started in Astronomy. As you become more acute in your night time studies, a good star atlas, such as Sky Atlas 2000 can be helpful, along with a red flashlight. The Astronomical League Observing Clubs are a good place to start if you're looking for a list of things to observe. Visit Sky & Telescope's observing page for fun things to look at during this week.

YAS is affiliated with the Astronomical League. Click on their blue logo for a visit with this national organization for amateur astronomers. Club members get together during the year for viewing sessions with their telescopes and attend many of the regional star parties. Amateur astronomers come from all walks of life and we have had the very young to senior citizens at our observing sessions. If you have an interest in astronomy or have a telescope and want to learn more about it, come join us. The YAS also maintains a library of astronomy books for club members to enjoy and use.

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I hope you enjoy the new look to our club web page. As the club grows in serving the local interest in amateur astronomy, this web page will keep everyone updated on the latest activities involving astronomy in the Yakima area. I have included some additional sites in the Links Map of interesting and fun things to see and do with astronomy. We also have a pull-down JavaScript menu below with Northwest astronomy clubs and links. The deep blue background color of the webpage is actually an image of the sky at Table Mountain.

See below for the date of our next meeting. If you would like to receive our free electronic newsletter, send your name and email address to our Newsletter Editor. Contact President, Martin Dukeshire for additional information about the Yakima Astronomical Society.

We have started a discussion forum for the amateur astronomer's in the Pacific Northwest. If you would like to interact with us or have questions on astronomy, visit our new Yakima's Starry Nights. There is even a section for teachers and students.

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Yakima Astronomical Society Officers

Club Officers	Name	Telephone	Email Address
President	Martin Dukeshire	(509) 574-5041
Newsletter	Larry Ovall	(509) 966-3584
ALCor	Bruce Perrault	(509) 678-4379

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Public Stargazing for 2012 The YAS and Yakima Parks and Recreation plan to hold seven free public stargazing nights at Randall Park in 2012, beginning in April and ending in October. Anyone interested in stargazing is invited to join us for a look through our telescopes. April 28th - Saturday night from 8:00 - midnight. Note: This is National Astronomy Day. May 25th - Saturday night from 8:30 - midnight. June 29th - Friday night from 9:00 - midnight. July 27th - Friday night from 8:30 - midnight. August 24th - Friday night from 8:00 - midnight. September 21st - Friday night from 7:00 - midnight. October 19th - Friday night from 7:00 - midnight. Note: For details each month, see YAS info at right. Mars Exploration Programs Dawn mission to study Asteroids Saturn Cassini-Huygens Mission Kepler - Search for habitable planets

Yakima Astronomical Society The next club meeting is Thursday, February 16th and will be held at the Summitview Library, 5709 Summitview Avenue in their meeting room. The meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. We welcome anyone interested in astronomy and there are no fees or dues to attend. This will be our last meeting at the Summitview Library before we start our public stargazing at Randall park in April. The Planets This Month (in order of appearance) Note: Positions for early February. New Moon is February 21st. Neptune is in the Southwest at Sunset. Venus is in the South-Southwest at Sunset. Uranus is in the South-Southwest at Sunset. Jupiter is in the South-Southeast at Sunset. Mars rises in the East about 10:00 pm. Saturn rises in the East about 1:00 am. Mercury rises in the East at Sunrise. Meteor Shower: No meteror showers in February.

Click on the Sky Chart for additional information about how it works.

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