Wabash Valley Astronomical Society (WVAS) is a non-profit organization that promotes the science
and hobby of astronomy. We've been in the Greater Lafayette,
Indiana, area since 1971 and our current membership includes people with many different backgrounds
and with ages from high school through retirees. People join WVAS because they have an interest in planetary
and deep sky observing, locating constellations, astrophotography, telescope making, cosmology, or they
just "want to see what's out there". We are affiliated with the
Astronomical League, a nationwide federation of astronomy clubs.
We are available for group educational presentations and observing sessions.
WVAS is a supporting organization of the
International Dark Sky Association
in their pursuit of reduced light pollution through better lighting practices.
Our base of operations is the West Lafayette Observatory at 600 Cumberland Avenue. (Directions to WLO) The observatory is owned by the West Lafayette School Corporation and is operated by the Purdue University Physics Department and is used for teaching and research. The observatory's exact location is 86º 54.39'W, 40º 27.68'N, 216m.
The observatory has a 20 seat classroom and houses a computerized 16" diameter Meade LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, a 10" Newtonian, an 8" binocular telescope, and an 8" Orion Deep Space Explorer Newtonian. The 10" Newtonian and 8" binocular telescopes were built by WVAS members. The Deep Space Explorer telescope can be signed out by WVAS members and by community organizations.
WVAS activities include:
Prairie Grass Observatory at Camp Cullom,
a few miles southeast of Mulberry, has a 28" telescope, one of the largest in the state.
It is located in a rural, dark-sky location for far better
viewing than is possible in the city of "deep-sky" nebulas and galaxies. The observatory
has other excellent telescopes that are used for public viewing. The observatory is owned and administerred
by the the same group that runs Camp Cullom, the Clinton County Foundation for Youth,
a United Way agency. WVAS provides technical and man-power support of this facility.
The observatory is available for group or public observing events. For information
on the observatory, including a schedule of upcoming events, click
here
or contact
Russ Kaspar or
John Mahony.
Our flagship event each summer is the
Indiana Family Star Party,
a family-oriented weekend of astronomy-related activities. Please put this on your calendar and join us for as little as a few hours or as much as a few days of astronomy immersion along with attendees from all over the area. You won't need any special viewing equipment or astronomy experience to have a great time.
Interested in recommendations for a first telescope? Sorry, we don't recommend for or against specific telescopes. However, we have put together a short flier for you to look at to help you determine whether the telescope that you are looking at has the potential to be useful or is more likely to become just another closet filler. Remember that a telescope that is difficult to use will probably not be used.
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Thinking of spending good money to name a star? There's a bridge in Brooklyn that could use a more imaginative name too, but it's not for sale either. Save your money and get the straight facts here.
Wabash Valley Astronomical Society, Inc. P.O. Box 2020 West Lafayette, IN 47996-2020 |
Last modified January 26, 2008