School Star Parties

School star parties are events where SVAS volunteers go out to a host organization’s planned event with telescopes and educational astronomy presentations and activities. Please note that this is an educational, not entertainment, program. For those who qualify we will travel to an appropriate location of your choice within a 30 mile radius of Sacramento.

For more information or to book an event, review the Star Party Guidelines

Citrus Heights Community Campout

Highlights: Swimming, BBQ Hotdog Dinner, Campfire Entertainment, Breakfast

For the attendees of the campout, we provide telescopic views of the evening's celestial objects.

Yosemite Glacier Point

In June, July, and August, amateur astronomers often set up telescopes at Glacier Point on Saturdays, and astronomy walks or talks are also be offered in Yosemite Valley, Tuolumne Meadows, and Wawona.

Black Butte Lake Star Party

Black Butte Lake is the perfect place for a star party. The skies are dark and comparable to Shingletown or Adin. Access is easy and the roads are excellent. Camping and RV sites are clean and spacious. Water, restrooms, hot showers, an on-site dump station, wildlife and cooperative rangers all will contribute to a comfortable and pleasant stay. All lights will be controlled by the park rangers in the campground, so light pollution will be at a minimum.

Few places in California combine such pastoral character with dark skies and comfortable camping. And in spring, the rolling oak foothills will be carpeted with green grass.

Because of limits on the number of people and vehicles, this star party is private. Attendance is by invitation only!

The Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society has established a Scholarship Program to assist academically talented students who are majoring in the physical sciences or mathematics with a career focus on astronomy or space sciences.

The Scholarship Program consists of two scholarships open only to community college students who have completed at least 3 fulltime semesters and have been accepted to a 4-year college or university for the 2020 academic year.

The Samuel John Smyth Trust Fund: $500.00

Open only to students majoring in Astronomy.

The Carl Anderson- Victor Killick Memorial Scholarship Fund: $600.00

Open to students majoring in any physical science or mathematics.

General Criteria for Eligibility

• Must be a resident of California attending one of the following
  • Sacramento City College
  • American River College
  • Cosumnes River College
  • Woodland Community College
  • Folsom Lake College
  • Sierra College.
• Must have GPA of at least 3.0 on a scale of 4.0 and be a student in good standing
• Must be accepted to an accredited 4-year University or College
• Must submit at least one reference from a physical science or mathematics professor at the college where currently enrolled.

We should receive the Application and all supporting Documents no later than June 30th 2019. Please send copies of required information as appropriate; we cannot return documents.

Download the Scholarship Application and Instructions

Amateur Telescope Making (ATM)

Lonnie Robinson brings you the very best in Amateur Telescope Making (“ATM”). He can help with all aspects of Dobsonian telescope building from design and construction to mirror making. He is happy to help with “telescope tune ups” involving mirror cleaning, collimation, and adding equipment upgrades.

Engineering Lightweight Dobsonian Telescopes
by Lonnie Robinson
Updated 2013

John Dobson really started something with his Dobsonian “Dob” telescope design. He enabled the average Amateur Telescope Maker “ATM” to create a large and very stable telescope with common workshop tools. In this article, Lonnie shares his personal thought process and his lightweight Dob building adventure with you, hopefully adding some additional fresh ideas to help inspire your new Dob telescope project.

Each month, on the Saturday closest to the New Moon, members and their guests gather under the stars for some great dark sky viewing.

This is our major event of the year. Just like a Monthly Star Party only with: Potluck, Raffle, Bar-B-Q.

On the third Friday of each month, at 8:00pm, join us for interesting speakers and conversation.

The SVAS Observer is the official newsletter of the Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society.

You can find information on upcoming club activities, special events, and articles related to astronomy in general.

Here's our May 2020 issue:

Submissions

Articles: Except for individually copyrighted stories, permission is granted to other amateur astronomy organizations to reproduce in whole or in part for internal non-profit use, provided credit is given to the SVAS Observer and to authors of the reproduced materials.

Submit articles: Manuscripts and letters from members are welcome via email in Word (preferred) or text format. Items may be emailed to the editor at newsletter@svas.org. Please write “SVAS Observer” in the title of your email.

Deadline for the following month’s newsletter is always the 22nd of the month.

Advertising— Commercial, non-personal advertising, business card through full page, is available. Contact editor for more information. Classified advertising is free to members of the SVAS. Submit ads to editor.

Copyrighted material appears in this publication solely for non-profit educational and research purposes, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.

The Observer Archives

Take a look at the great collection of Lonnie's Newsletters since 2012. . .

2012
• May-Jun
• Jul-Aug
• Aug-SBQ
• Sep-Oct
• Nov-Dec

2013
• Jan-Feb
• Mar-Apr
• May-Jun
• Jul-Aug
• Sep-Oct
• Nov-Dec

2014
• Jan-Feb
• Mar-Apr
• May-Jun
• Jul-Aug
• Sep-Oct
• Nov-Dec

2015
• Jan-Feb
• Mar-Apr
• May-Jun
• Jul-Aug
• Sep-Oct
• Nov-Dec

2016
• Jan-Feb
• Mar-Apr
• May-Jun
• Jul-Aug
• Sep-Oct
• Nov-Dec

2017
• Jan-Feb
• Mar-Apr
• May-Jun
• Jul-Aug
• Sep-Oct
• Nov-Dec

International Sun-Day, POWERHOUSE Science Center

Celebrate the Summer Solstice with us both days of the weekend with solar viewing.

Barnes & Noble

When the Moon and Planets are in a favorable configuration, we set up scopes at the Barnes & Noble in Roseville. Solar scopes too.

Sunday Funday

Join us for the annual Sunday Funday a free family event! Your family will have a great time with inflatables and rides, pony rides, business and craft booths, music with live DJ, police K-9 demos, tot and kid fun zones, Food Trucks and more!

SVAS will have telescopes for safe solar viewing.

Celestial Events

Events like comets, solar and lunar eclipses, meteor showers and planetary oppositions, are great opportunities to get the public exposed to the thrills of astronomy. Check our Upcoming Events to see if something is on the horizon.