Astronomy Weekend

Be a part of the longest-running Star Party in West Virginia!

This will be our 33rd year hosting Astronomy Weekend! Mark your calendars! Make your reservations now for Astronomy Weekend at Blackwater Falls State Park. Tell the desk you are with KVAS and get a 10% discount!

2022 Astronomy Weekend Speakers are confirmed

Felix (Jay) Lockman            Green Bank Telescope Principal Scientist
Duncan Lorimer                   Interim Chair, Physics and Astronomy – WVU
Maria Hamilton                    Associate Professor of Physics – Marshal University
Tim Hamilton                       Professor of Physics – Shawnee State University
Sarah Spolaor                      Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy – WVU
Mark Kochte                         Mission Analyst – Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Brent Maynard                      IT Director – Marshal University – Astrophotography
Kevin Wilson                         Astronomical Society of Greenbelt, Maryland – Amateur Radio Astronomy
Ed Connors/Bill Brown          KVAS – Beginning Astronomy
Sue Bassett                           TBD

Friday, September 16
1:00 – 1:50 Jay Lockman The Big Blow-Up in the Milky Way’s Center
2:00 – 2:50 Kevin Wilson Amateur Radio Astronomy
3:00 – 3:50 Sue Bassett Fantastic Beasts and Why You Can’t Find Them
4:00 – 4:50 Brent Maynard Astrophotography
5:00 – 6:00 Open Session Others are welcome to share their Astro photos and techniques

Kevin Wilson will Demonstrate his Radio Telescope

Saturday, September 17
9:00 – 9:50 Ed Connors / Bill Brown How to Get Started in Astronomy
10:00 – 10:50 Maria Hamilton Cosmic Explorer and the Future of Gravitational Wave Astronomy
11:00 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 1:50 Tim Hamilton First results from the James Webb Space Telescope
2:00 – 2:50 Loren Anderson TBD
3:00 – 3:50 Indy Kochte What's New with New Horizons?

Blackwater Falls State Park offers very dark skies that are unavailable to the majority of people in the surrounding states and even people that live in or near small towns.  See: http://www.jshine.net/astronomy/dark_sky/ for a map of dark skies.