clubs+and+organizations


 * This Section is a great resource for any astronomer or person interested in astronomy. The following links connect you to some local Northern California astronomy clubs as well as providing information about every astronomy club, Planetarium, Observatory, and Museum in the world.**

Title:Fremont Peak Observatory Association URL: [] Date Read: April 29, 2009 Author: Doug Brown Audience: Anyone Rating: 10 The Fremont Peak Observatory Association website is very simple and kind of plain. It has a nice photo at the top of the page but they could definetely dress it up a little bit more to keep people interested. This website describes what the observatory is all about and who runs it. The observatory has been around for decades and it is run by over 100 volunteer amateur astronomers.

Title: Peninsula Astronomical Society URL: [] Date Read: April 29, 2009 Author: Ken Lum Audience: Everyone Rating: 10

This website is very cool for anyone who is interested in astronomy or getting together with a group. It is a group of over 200 astronomy enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds. Some of the people are professionally trained and others have never looked through a telescope. The website is very welcoming and it really seems like they want you to join. The website is nice with a pretty starry night background and nice galaxy photo. They could dress it up a little more just invite more poeple in but that would be my only complaint about it. The toolbar at the top of the page has a few different things you can select from: Astronomy at foothill, Andrew Franknoi, courses, news. astronomy sites, foothill college home, etc. This is great website to organize a meet up with other people to check out the starry night sky.

Title: Astronomical Society of the Pacific URL: [] Date Read: April 29, 2009 Audience: Everyone Rating: 10

This is a great website for people who want to get together with others that are in interested in Astronomy. It really helps with the organization and list of events happening. You can register to become a meme=ber or you can just brouse the website to personally communicate with other people that are interested in astronomy. You can select the top toolbar which has information regarding News, membership, publications, events, education, resources, support, the asro shop, or a search engine for the website. It really covers a lot of material which can be very helpful for anyone wanting to get together with a group. " An international nonprofit scientific and educational organization founded in 1889 that works to increase the understanding and appreciation of astronomy".

Title: Astronomy Clubs; the Knowledge in Numbers URL: http://www.astronomyclubs.com/ Editor: Jeremy Mitchell Date Read: November 18, 2008 Audience: Everyone

This website has one purpose, and that is to be an avenue for any official organization that would like free advertisement. As a professional astronomer or beginner with interest, you can find what you are looking for here. At the home page you are greeted with a straight forward alphabetical arrangement of countries. Pick your country of choice followed by your state or province. Then filter your search to astronomy clubs, planetarium, observatory, or museum. Finally you get a list that gives essential information that includes: name of club, contact information, and current number of members or seats. Overall great resource!

Title: Eastbay Astronomical Society URL: [|[[http://www.eastbayastro.org/P|http://www.eastbayastro.org/]]] President: Paul Hoy Date Read: November 18, 2008 Audience: Everyone

The Eastbay Astronomical Society meets at Chabot Space & Science Center. The homepage contains all the regularly updated club information complete with a newsletter and the up coming meeting location, speaker, and subject of oration. Along the top of the homepage you can find links to subjects such as membership, directions, contacts and schedules. In addition there are two links that are very unique to the Eastbay Astronomical Society. One link gives information about a “Telescope Makers’ Workshop” complete with photo’s of previous workshops. This is great for beginners or amateurs in astronomy! Secondly a link titled astrophotos gives sample photo’s taken by members of the Club at the operational Chabot Observatory. With regular workshops and lectures the Eastbay Astronomical Society is a great hands-on club.

Title: Mount Diablo Astronomical Society URL: http://www.mdas.net Date Read: December 1, 2008 Audience: Students/Teachers and the general public

The Mount Diablo Astronomical Society is a gift to anyone living in the San Francisco Eastbay because Mt. Diablo is right in your backyard! The MDAS has regular telescope events as well as lectures open to the general public. This organization is great for Teachers and Students because you can take advantage of the MDAS outreach programs. Teachers can schedule private telescope sessions or lectures on the mountain or in a classroom. Students can benefit from the viewings and lectures as well as a special interest group that is dedicated to astrophotography!

Title: Astronomical Association of Northern California URL: http://www.aanc-astronomy.org/ Site Maintained by: Alan Gould Date Read: December 1, 2008 Audience: Amateur Astronomers and Students

The AANC is a large organization that hosts many events throughout the year. The homepage of the website is a bland grid that has many links. What the website lacks in visual stimulation it makes up with in many links that vary from yearly events such as star parties to current astronomy appearances in the news and informational texts about various topics. There is an easy link to membership which is brief and straight forward. In addition it’s only $20 to join so it’s very easy to get a great informative resource.

Title: San Francisco Amateur Astronomers URL: http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/ Date Read: December 1, 2008 Audience: Everyone

The SFAA is an amateur organization that offers unique services that are of great benefit to beginners. The home page of the website gives you a brief history of the club and provides links on the left. One unique service available to members is a telescope rental service. So if you can’t afford a telescope or don’t know what kind you want to purchase you can choose from four different models to rent. This a great service. A second link is a list of observing sites in the San Francisco Bay Area with a unique ranking system which helps you choose the best places to observe from. One final link is great benefit to students and the general public which offers an archive of videos and photos made and submitted by members of the SFAA. While offering many events through out the year and a great telescope rental service, the SFAA is the best place to be for amateur astronomers.