Welcome to VBAS!
The Von Braun Astronomical Society is a non-profit organization of amateur and professional astronomers. We are sharing our love of space with the community through our planetarium and observatories located in Monte Sano State Park just east of Huntsville, Alabama.
Latest News
Help VBAS establish an endowment fund
The VBAS Board of Directors approved a fundraising effort to establish an agency fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Huntsville. VBAS will be the sole beneficiary of the distributions from this fund, which will provide long term financial stability for the organization. VBAS has to raise $50,000 to start this fund. Thanks to some generous long-time members, we are already 4/5ths of the way there. Help us get this fund established!
- Amateur Astronomy 101 Registration Now OpenThis six week course is targeted to beginning observers, adults and teens, or those interested in a refresher course in basic observational astronomy. Learn the wonders of the night sky in a practical setting that involves both lecture and observing using your own or VBAS telescopes or binoculars. Tuesdays at 7:00-8:30 pm, Oct 8 –… Read more: Amateur Astronomy 101 Registration Now Open
- Night at the ObservatoryVBAS is pleased to offer a program that provides guests an opportunity to direct an observing session using the historic Swanson 21” telescope with a modern digital camera. Our Night At The Observatory is a personalized program that allows small groups to experience an evening of observing deep-sky objects of their choice. And the fun… Read more: Night at the Observatory
- Astronomy Day 2024September 28th, 1-5; 7 – 10 pm Von Braun Astronomical Society will celebrate Astronomy Day on September 28th in person at Monte Sano State Park! Daytime events (between 1 – 5 pm) will include: solar viewing, mini-planetarium shows, rockets, vacuum-chamber demonstrations of what it’s like in space, and several other fun STEAM activities. Evening events… Read more: Astronomy Day 2024
Upcoming Shows
- August 2024 Planetarium Shows
All planetarium shows begin at 7:30pm.
Admission opens at 7:00pm; $5/adult, $3/student, 6 and under free.
Telescope viewing afterwards on clear nights.
August 3rd – Exploring the Milky Way
On a clear night in August, away from the city lights, a hazy band stretches across the sky. In this presentation, we’ll explore the Milky Way with our eyes, binoculars and a small telescope and discover what we know about our home galaxy.
Presented by Alex Hall
August 10th – The Moon
A presentation about our natural satellite, the Moon, and how it is unusually large for a small planet like Earth, and how its origin may have been much different from the ~300 other known moons in our solar system. There will also be a discussion of all the various interesting features on the Moon, including impact craters, lava flows, mountains, and volcanic domes, that are even visible even in a small telescope.
Presented by Frank Schenck
August 17th – Scale of the Universe
What is the biggest object you have ever seen? Is it a building, a geologic structure? Or maybe you have looked into the night sky and marveled at how big it is! Join VBAS as we consider the true scale of the universe with some mind-bending questions such as: “how big is time”?
Presented by Don Reed
August 24th – Scale of the Universe
What is the biggest object you have ever seen? Is it a building, a geologic structure? Or maybe you have looked into the night sky and marveled at how big it is! Join VBAS as we consider the true scale of the universe with some mind-bending questions such as: “how big is time”?
Presented by Don Reed
August 31st – The Planets
To our ancestors, they were the wandering stars that moved mysteriously among the fixed stars. Today our space probes send back close ups of these distant worlds. Come and learn how our quest to discover what these wanderers actually are helped reveal the truth about our place in space.
Presented by Alex Hall
