(Submitted 2026-04-12)

Recent events:

  • March 4 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh)
    • Coordinator: Susan H
    • Volunteers: Dean, Blair, Chris C, Lauren, Susan
    • Recap: Susan H –
We had a good outreach event at the Willard on March 3, 2026.
The sky was cloudy with a few stars popping out now and again. Everyone was very excited to view Jupiter and the Moon. We had quite a few pictures left from Astronomy Days to pass out to the participants, they were a big hit! Especially the Jupiter, Mars, Pleiades and Moon images. 
Overall it was a busy successful evening with @80-100 guests in attendance.
Thanks to everyone who volunteered:
Dean, Blair, Chris, Lauren & myself

 

We had reasonably clear skies Saturday, and were able to view Jupiter, M42, M44, M45, and the Rosetta Nebula and others. Skies were not very dark in part due to multiple nearby street lights. About 25 families attended for the hour long event. Despite that, the skies very stable and views of Jupiter were very sharp. The participants were appreciative and asked a lot of good questions.
Thanks to Susan and Dean for joining me. We may schedule another event here in the fall.

 

  • March 14 – Under the Stars @ NCMA (Raleigh)
    • Coordinator: Steve B
    • Volunteers: Dean, Susan, Bethany, Mary Clare, Mark, Blair, Jesus, Dana, Annelies, Stephan, Steve B, Ann, Adam
    • Recap: Steve B –
Over 2000 attendees (waiting for final headcount) showed up for Saturday’s event at NCMA. All crammed into a very small area. Despite that, and thanks to the efforts of our floaters, they all lined up patiently to view through our telescopes and ask questions. Sky conditions weren’t ideal, and for the first 30+ minutes only Jupiter was visible. I know that Jupiter, M42, M45, and Polaris were viewed, but I honestly never got a break to leave my telescope and walk around (or stop to align when it got dark enough for that matter). I know that of the 100+ who looked through my eyepiece, a large percentage had never looked through a telescope and enjoyed a remarkable new experience. There were some logistics hiccups at the beginning to get our gear down to the observing spot (I take the blame for that), but the museum got us moved out of there back to the parking lot very quickly, and I think they did a good job marking the path to the viewing area. They even prevented me from leaving my OTA behind for the second time that day.
Someone had a safety incident and an ambulance was called, but I don’t believe that occurred anywhere near our viewing area, and museum security handled that promptly and professionally.
Thanks to all of our volunteers and to the Morehead Planetarium team who joined us for a great event!

 

  • April 8 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh)
    • Coordinator: Steve B
    • Volunteers: Steve B, Brian, Blair, Lauren
    • Recap: Steve B –

Despite high/thin clouds, we had a huge turnout for observing at the Willard last night. A constant line at least 80-100 attendees for two hours at our two telescopes. People grabbed up our astronomy handouts at the RAC table like they were gas coupons. Good questions and good conversations. Jupiter, Venus, and Castor were observed.

Upcoming Events:

Notes:

The Outreach Committee is looking for volunteers to coordinate events and assist at events with or without a telescope. To join the committee send a blank email to [email protected]. Any club member is welcome, regardless of experience level. We will train you! To volunteer for an event, register via the RAC Calendar event entry.

Event coordinators: please send an email after the event to [email protected] indicating:

  • How many RAC members volunteered.
  • Estimate of how many attendees were present.
  • Brief synopsis of the event: what interesting things were observed, attendee reactions, host impressions, etc.