Wonders of the Night Sky

'Status' - event color coding
Status:	Successful event!
Status:	Event occurred, but ended early due to clouds
Status:	Event cancelled due to weather or other conditions

CSC
ASF	Accuweather Stargazing Forecast
WM	Continental USA wind map

Interesting facts:
The LAST Total Solar Eclipse in Stow Ohio occurred on June 16, 1806 at 10:48:38am EST
The NEXT Total Solar Eclipse in Stow Ohio will occur on April 8, 2024 at 3:14:21pm EDT.
We will experience a very nice partial solar eclipse on August 21, 2017 at 2:25pm EDT
Don't forget to mark your calendars!

General Information about our events
What you should know - location, time, what to bring, etc.

My Favorite Links
(including the Frontiers of Astronomy lecture series)
Some of my favorite astro-related websites

Astronomy News
Take a look at Astro-news from several sources.

Lost & Found - new item added on 7/30/2010
Did you leave (or find) something on the observing field?

Weather - Current & Predicted
Latest information from AccuWeather for Stow, Ohio

Accurate World Time
Wonder what the official UTC is currently?

Common Names for Deep Sky Objects
Alphabetical listing of names commonly used for DSOs

Interactive Star Charts
Preset for our location in Stow, but modifiable by you

Moon Phase Charts
Daily Moon Phase charts through 2024

Planet Data
Data on the Sun, Planets & Moon

Click here (or anywhere in the calendar below) for Moon Phases for all of 2012

Click here for Moon rise / transit / set times for May 2012

Current Astronomy News







PBS's Jack Horkheimer "Star Gazer" Video Download Page

Jack Horkheimer, the "Star Gazer" passed away on Friday afternoon, August 20, 2010.
The next time you're out under the stars, think of Jack and his love of the night sky

Maps to our Observing Locations

Past Event News

The photos below were taken during our observing event on 6/22/07
behind Fishcreek Elementary School in Stow where the
Wonders of the Night Sky program takes place nearly every
clear Friday night during the spring, summer and fall.

All photos were taken by, and used with permission of Ray Hyer,
fellow member of The Astronomy Club of Akron, Inc (ACA)

Ray took these shots with a DSLR in almost total darkness with an exposure time of 30 seconds giving the images a
surrealistic quality. The long exposures are demonstrated by the motion of the people and the total lack of shadows. Just magical. Thank you, Ray!

Photo below, left to right: Meade 102ED APO refractor on a Meade LXD650 German equatorial mount belonging to Jeff Kreidler (whose hand is visible on the focuser), 12" LX200GPS belonging to and operated by Dave Jessie and TMB 130SS on a Celestron CGE German equatorial mount operated by Rosaelena Villaseñor. The 102ED was viewing Jupiter, the LX200 was on the Moon and the TMB on Venus. There were many more scopes and mounted binoculars of all types and sizes in use on the observing field.

Photo below: A gentleman holding his young son up to the eyepiece of the 12" SCT that was still pointed at the Moon. The phase was almost exactly first quarter which gave a wealth of visible detail at the terminator - the line between lunar night and day - where shadows show craters and maria to best advantage.
Perhaps this young fellow will be the next great astronomer or cosmologist!

More pictures will be posted soon, so come back.

Web hosting generously provided by

Click here for Comet Garradd information.	Wonders of the Night Sky Astronomy Programs conducted under the auspices of the Stow Parks & Recreation Department since September 15, 1995 *Now in our seventeenth year of observing the universe!*	Click here for the next Astronomy Club of Akron event
	Website last updated: Saturday May 19, 2012 1:40 AM (EDT)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1/6/12 No event	2/3/12 No event	3/2/12 No event	4/6/12 No event	5/4/12 Status	6/1/12 Status	7/6/12 Status	8/3/12 Status	9/7/12 Status	10/5/12 Status	11/2/12 Status	12/7/12 No event
1/13/12 No event	2/10/12 No event	3/9/12 No event	4/13/12 No event	5/11/12 Report	6/5/12 Status	7/13/12 Status	8/10/12 Status	9/14/12 Status	10/12/12 Status	11/9/12 Status	12/14/12 No event
1/20/12 No event	2/17/12 No event	3/16/12 No event	4/20/12 Status	5/18/12 Report	6/8/12 Status	7/20/12 Status	8/17/12 Status	9/21/12 Status	10/19/12 Status	11/16/12 No event	12/21/12 No event
1/27/12 No event	2/24/12 No event	3/23/12 No event	4/27/12 No event	5/25/12 No event	6/15/12 Status	7/27/12 Status	8/24/12 Status	9/28/12 No event	10/26/12 No event	Lecture 11/16/12	12/28/12 No event
Lecture 1/27/12	Lecture 2/24/12	Lecture 3/23/12	Lecture 4/27/12	Lecture 5/25/12	6/22/12 Status		8/31/12 Status	Lecture 9/28/12	Lecture 10/26/12	11/23/12 No event
		3/30/12 No event	NEAF 4/28/1 2		6/29/12 Status					11/30/12 No event

Current Moon Phase from USNO	Click for current Solar Activity from SOHO	Click for current Sunspot Activity

Click here for current image of Sun (white light)
Click here for current image of Sun (in Ca-K light)
Click here for current image of Sun (white light & numbered)
Click here for detail of current Solar activity
Click here for current H-a Solar activity movie