New Astronomy club

[Shallbe]

I'm considering gearing up to try to start an astronomy club in my area.

If there is a better place for this topic, please feel free to suggest a move or, if you're a mod, move it to the appropriate forum.

I seem to be smack dab in the middle of an area that lacks an astronomy club. There are clubs on either side of me, both 1.5 to 2 hours drive away, and generally meeting in the middle of huge cities. They have great resources, but the distance and the difficulty of driving in the big city make it daunting for me to attend meetings, and I thought perhaps there are others in my area who might be interested in getting together.

Outside of the usual thoughts on getting the word out, finding members, meeting places, etc., I began to wonder how one would find a dark sky site to use for club viewing?

I live in an area of ranches, so there ought to be some mighty fine places around, if I knew how to discover them and ask for permission to use them.

Any thoughts?

shallbe

[manxkats]

Great idea. I am moving to a place that also is lacking in a local club. I would talk (email) both of the clubs you mentioned and see if they can spread the word for your area, there are probably a few people who live near you and would love to stay closer to home. You can zoom in on the darksky map near you and see what areas are darker skies. Than I would contact the other groups again to get advice on how to approach the owners. Star party rules and all that stuff so no damage is done to the property. I hope it works out well for you.

[Shallbe]

Thanks, Manx. I need to find that dark sky map again--I know I've run across it before. I do plan to ask the city club for help--hopefully they will be more helpful than they were during the star party I attended.

[manxkats]

Ask and ye shall recieve.... Dark Sky Finder just zoom to your area. And in case you haven't found this site, Clear Sky Charts, if you find an area close to your house it can give a good idea if it's worth going out that night. Clear Sky Charts in Texas (Map) and I just found one more Seeing 3 days Iron Station - meteoblue which is pretty neat as well. I understand what you mean. I thought they would be more welcoming or something but I guess this is an easy hobby for people to start and can quickly lose interest because it's not easy at first, Although I have to say I found one person from a local club who came to my house to help me. Thanks Jeff! Hopefully these links can help you find a dark site.

[OleCuss]

With no club closer than 45 minutes away I've got to admit to interest in how one goes about starting a club. I'd kind of like to do it in my little city as well, but finding enough people who are into astronomy to actually form something worth calling a "club" is something I've not managed to do.

[Shallbe]

Thanks, Manx, for the links! Those should be very useful.

Ole, one of the first things I'm doing is trying not to look like an idiot, haha! So I went to the library today and asked them if they knew of any active amateur astronomers in the area--if they are active, chances are that they have asked for a book or given a free library program on the subject. Sure enough, there is one fellow. BUT...he helps run the observatory for one of the bigger clubs. I may call him, I may not. But at least I know there's one active amateur in the area.

I've had some ideas on how to get enough interest built up to start a club. Sometimes, you have to build from the bottom up, and passing on this hobby to the next generation is a perfectly acceptable way of doing so. So I thought I'd do a couple things--like do a couple of library programs myself! How hard can it be to do a 30 minute free program on learning the constellations for a small crowd of parents of young children and others who might be interested? I have Starry Night, Stellarium, and Powerpoint--this could be fun! Then, with those contacts, I'll have a couple star parties at my own little "dark sky site".

I'm contacting the high school because I've heard they run a course in astronomy every so often. If the teacher is interested in helping, great. If not, perhaps I can do a couple of programs for him/her and dig up a few more interested parties.

This area is chock full of retirees who love to start clubs--women's clubs, rotary, lion's club, bunko, geology, genealogy--you name it, they got it. Especially if I can find a way to make a star party into a fund-raiser for some charity, I bet I'd get any number of takers--and they'll have money, too, to spend on equipment and what have you.

And I'm not in a hurry. This is a hobby, for gosh sakes--it's supposed to be fun. So when I have time, I'll work on it and contact people. When I don't, it takes a back burner, no problem.

I'd be happy to hear any other ideas you folks might have for finding interested parties in the area.

[Shallbe]

Thanks, Manx, for the links! Those should be very useful.

Ole, one of the first things I'm doing is trying not to look like an idiot, haha! So I went to the library today and asked them if they knew of any active amateur astronomers in the area--if they are active, chances are that they have asked for a book or given a free library program on the subject. Sure enough, there is one fellow. BUT...he helps run the observatory for one of the bigger clubs. I may call him, I may not. But at least I know there's one active amateur in the area.

I've had some ideas on how to get enough interest built up to start a club. Sometimes, you have to build from the bottom up, and passing on this hobby to the next generation is a perfectly acceptable way of doing so. So I thought I'd do a couple things--like do a couple of library programs myself! How hard can it be to do a 30 minute free program on learning the constellations for a small crowd of parents of young children and others who might be interested? I have Starry Night, Stellarium, and Powerpoint--this could be fun! Then, with those contacts, I'll have a couple star parties at my own little "dark sky site".

I'm contacting the high school because I've heard they run a course in astronomy every so often. If the teacher is interested in helping, great. If not, perhaps I can do a couple of programs for him/her and dig up a few more interested parties.

This area is chock full of retirees who love to start clubs--women's clubs, rotary, lion's club, bunko, geology, genealogy--you name it, they got it. Especially if I can find a way to make a star party into a fund-raiser for some charity, I bet I'd get any number of takers--and they'll have money, too, to spend on equipment and what have you.

And I'm not in a hurry. This is a hobby, for gosh sakes--it's supposed to be fun. So when I have time, I'll work on it and contact people. When I don't, it takes a back burner, no problem.

I'd be happy to hear any other ideas you folks might have for finding interested parties in the area.

[manxkats]

Atta Boy! The club around here is at a high school because they have an astronomy club, probably only has a few members as well. I went to see the Venus transit over there and the first thing we said was they should be selling cookies or something to raise money for the club. There were at least 40 people there. No instructions or information was given/said to us. Odd way to run a club.

Love the free program idea. I went to the science center to see their show, nicely done, at the end I asked why she didn't mention that we could see Saturn when she gave a list of visible objects. She said (southern drawl) well cuz it's not out yet. I said it is, I took a picture of it last night. She replied Well did it have rings? umm, yes it did, that's how I knew it was Saturn, Carlos! So you can't do any worse.

If you can spread the word via bulletin boards at the library and school, craigs list, church, supermarkets, I am sure you will get followers. It is one of the cool things to know when you are looking up in the sky that there are very few people who have witnessed the same object and that we want everyone to have the opportunity to view the universe.