...

Goddard Astronomy Club

A focal point for amateur astronomers in the GSFC community -- an amateur astronomer being someone who loves the sky, whether or not they get paid for it!

Get in touch

The Goddard Astronomy Club is an employee organization at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. It provides a focal point for amateur astronomers in the GSFC community – an amateur astronomer being someone who loves the sky, whether or not they get paid for it!

Meetings are held at noon on the second Tuesday of each month. They often feature a speaker, usually either a Goddard scientist discussing current research or a member of the Goddard community speaking on some aspect of amateur astronomy.

We host also star parties and outreach events regularly and take trips to astronomy events around the country.

Upcoming Events

Coming soon.

Membership

Membership is open to anyone who holds a Goddard badge, including both civil servants and contractors, on-site and off. Dues are currently $15/year. The dues pay for club memberships in the Astronomical League and the International Dark-Sky Association, interest on our club bank account and the rest is for equipment for the club observatory.

Members may subscribe to Sky and Telescope magazine at a substantial discount; the member rate is currently $32.95/year.

To join: Fill out the application form and send it along with $15 (make checks payable to the Goddard Astronomy Club) and send it to the Treasurer, currently Keith Evans, at Code 614.

I don’t work at Goddard, but I’d like to join: Sorry. We considered having non-Goddard members, but concluded that the complications resulting from Goddard’s security make this unfeasible. (However, guests are welcome to join us for our off-site activities, such as Astronomy Day and field trips.) Here are some other astronomy clubs in the area that are open to the public. Each has a different flavor, so we suggest trying several before deciding:

  • Greenbelt Astronomy Club: Meets on the last Thursday of each month at the Owens Science Center, 9601 Greenbelt Rd. Contact Russ Waugh at the Owens Science Center, 301-918-8750.
  • National Capital Astronomers: Meets at 7:30 pm on the first Saturday of each month, September-June, at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. Contact NCA at 301-320-3621 or Dan Costanzo at 703-841-4765.
  • Northern Virginia Astronomy Club: Meets at the Arlington County Planetarium, Arlington VA. Contact Marta Krause at 703-281-9049.

Or you can look under Astronomy Links for more area clubs.

Officers and Contacts

  • President: Paul Morris (paul.r.morris AT nasa.gov)
  • Vice President: Scott Hull (scott.m.hull AT nasa.gov)
  • Treasurer: Keith Evans (evans AT umbc.edu)
  • Secretary: Brent Warner (Brent.A.Warner AT nasa.gov)
  • Outreach Coordinator:
  • Equipment Monitor:
  • Observatory Committee Chairperson:
  • Assistant Observatory Committee Chairperson:
  • ALCOR: Keith Evans (evans AT umbc.edu)
  • WebMaster: Keith Evans (evans AT umbc.edu)

Club Resources

GAC maintains an observatory on the grounds of the Goddard Geophysical and Astrophysical Observatory (Area 200, off Springfield Rd.). Club members may check out the observatory key from the main-gate guardhouse at any time.

Current instrumentation consists of the following:

  • 12” f/5.8 Newtonian reflector
  • 7” Questar Maksutov

Additionally, some members have access to other telescopes at GGAO, and can make arrangements for their use.

Activities

Star parties (observing sessions) are held at the observatory every month, usually scheduled on a Friday night close to the last quarter moon. The backup days (if the weather is bad) is the next night, Saturday, and then the following weekend on Friday or Saturday, which is near the new moon.

The star parties are not public, but guests of members are welcome. The Goddard Visitor’s Center does hold public star parties which we often support.

We also have annual field trips to dark sky observing sites, such as Caroline Furnace or Big Meadows, VA, and to astronomy conventions and star parties such as Stellafane, York Count Star Party, and Blackwater Falls.

See above for a list of our upcoming events.

Newsletter

Please contact one of our officers for copies of past club newsletters.

Observer’s Page

Observer’s Page

Last updated 2/9/2023; information may be outdated and links may be broken.

Area Clubs

Astronomy News and Online Magazines

Buy, Sell, & Trade

Member’s Stuff

Previously linked to photos hosted on old website, which need to be uploaded to Flickr and re-linked.

Other Clubs and Organizations

Usenet & Discussion Groups

  • MD Lighting - A discussion group about outdoor lights and light pollution in Maryland.
  • sci.astro
  • sci.astro.amateur
  • sci.astro.research
  • sci.astro.planetarium
  • sci.space.news
  • sci.space.policy
  • sci.space.science
  • sci.space.shuttle
  • Space Talk