Public Outreach

(Updated 2025-10-01) Recent events: September 5 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Coordinator: Ana V September 9 – Sanderson High School (Raleigh) Coordinator/volunteer: Tony V Recap: Tony V – I was the guest speaker representing the Ralegh Astronomy Club The Sanderson High School Astronomy Club hosted an engaging outreach event, How to Become an Amateur Astronomer, that drew a strong turnout of curious and enthusiastic students. The session offered a hands-on introduction to stargazing and the…

(Updated 2025-09-06) Recent events: August 16 – Perseid Meteors at Howell Woods (Four Oaks) Coordinator: Dana Volunteers: Dana, Marshall, Ollin, Blair, Steve B Recap: Steve B – Well, I think we saw a total of one meteor last night. Humidity was > 85% and everything dewed up by 10:00PM, but despite that the Milky Way was visible to the naked eye and we were able to get good views of M13, M7, and a few nebula. About 30 people who…

(Updated 2025-07-31) Recent events: July 12 – Second Saturday with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Canceled due to weather forecast July 26 – Stargazing on Tap Star Party (Cameron) Coordinator: Dana Volunteers: Susan, Dean, Dana, Blair, Alan, Yvonne Recap: 45+ people attended Press coverage: Lee: Raleigh astronomers delight daytime stargazers at James Creek Cider House Upcoming events: August 1 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Coordinator: Ana V Volunteers registered: telescopes: 4/15 floaters: 2/5 August…

(Updated 2025-06-29) Recent events: June 02 – Sanderson HS (Raleigh) Coordinator/presenter: Tony V June 06 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Canceled due to weather forecast June 18 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers: Bill, Blair, Dean, Susan, Annelies, Lauren, Steve B Recap: Steve B – We had a fantastic turnout of at least 80+ people who turned out at the Willard, despite the late start and heat. Mars and various globular and…

(Updated 2025-05-31) Recent events: May 02 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Canceled due to weather forecast May 09: Stargazing with Sagan: A Journey Through the Cosmos (Durham) Coordinator: Ana V Volunteers: Ana V, Jesus, Rob, Arun May 15 – Weatherstone ES (Cary) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteer: Steve B Recap: Steve B – Yesterday I set up a RAC table with handouts for 2+ hours at the Weatherstone Elementary School STEM event. There were hundreds of…

(Updated 2025-04-30) Recent events: March 15 – Stargazing on Tap Star Party (Cameron) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers: Alan, Blair, Steve B Attendees: 75 Recap: Steve B – We had a good night of observing at James Creek Cider House in Cameron on Saturday night. Despite intermittent high clouds, we were able to help approximately 75 people observe Jupiter, Mars, Orion Nebula, Pleiades, Almach, Double Cluster, M36, M37, and the Moon. Anything below 30 deg above the horizon to the W-NW…

(Updated 2025-03-18) Recent events: February 7 – First Fridays with TCL at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Canceled due to weather forecast February 8 – Astronomy Night at Joyner Park (Wake Forest) Postponed to March 08 due to weather forecast February 15 – Stargazing on Tap Star Party (Cameron) Postponed to February 22 due to weather forecast February 19 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Postponed to February 26 due to weather forecast February 20 – Morrisville Community Library (Morrisville) Postponed to…

(Updated 2025-02-21) Recent events: January 23 – Buckhorn Creek ES (Holly Springs) Postponed due to weather forecast January 29 – STEAM Night: Githens MS (Durham) Coordinator: Matt L Volunteers: Matt L, Steve B Attendees: ~100 Recap: Matt L – Steve and I had a good time at Githens Middle School in Durham.  This has become an annual event as exhibitors at their STEAM night.  It was light for the first hour while we set up and spoke to students and…

(Updated 2025-01-16) Recent events: December 18 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers: Blair, Susan, Dean, Chris C, Steve B Attendees: 50+ Recap: Steve B – Despite intermittent clouds and a 61F dew point in mid-December (!), we were able to show 50+ attendees at The Willard Saturn, Jupiter, the Orion Nebula, and a few nebulas from Blair’s Seestar. Unfortunately we had to hurry to pack up at 9:20 PM due to incoming rain. January 3 – First…

(Updated 2024-12-10) Recent events: November 09 – TechnoQuest (Girl Scouts) (Raleigh) Coordinator/volunteer: Frank H Attendees: 33 Recap: Frank H – 30 well-behaved very attentive 6th & 7th grades who asked a lot of questions. Accompanied by three adult “aides.” I brought a mounted H-alpha solar scope and a mounted 80mm Orion Short Tube along with 5 pairs of binoculars (2 solar white light) along with an “extra” 90mm f/6.5. It was a good thing I had a lecture worked out…

(Updated 2024-11-12) Recent events: October 30 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers: Susan, Dean, Tony, Blair, Bill, Steve B Attendees: ~90 Recap: Steve B – The Willard event this evening started out slow but ended with a good crowd of at least 90 participants. We had three telescopes plus a Seestar on hand. Most of the evening was spent showing participants different views of Saturn and its moons, but Alberio, Comet C2023/Atlas, and the Dumbbell and Rosette…

Recent events: October 4 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Canceled due to weather forecast Upcoming events: October 30 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers registered: telescopes: 1/3 floaters: 1/3 November 01 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Coordinator: Ana V Volunteers registered: telescopes: 0/15 floaters: 0/5 November 07 – Morrisville Community Library (Morrisville) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers needed (registration opens October 09): telescopes: 5 floaters: 3 November 09…

Updated 2024-09-21 Recent events: August 14 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers: Dean, Susan, Mark, Benjamin, Jesus, and Steve B Attendees: ~40 Recap: Steve B – Despite some technical difficulties, about 40 participants got to view the Moon, Antares, and a few other southern sky objects through a telescope and binoculars at the Willard last night, and we distributed out several handouts on astronomy. This was a smaller crowd than typical which is a little surprising given…

Recent events: August 2 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Canceled due to weather forecast Upcoming events: August 14 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Postponed from August 7 due to weather; previous volunteer registrations voided. Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers registered: telescopes: 0/3 floaters: 0/3 August 17 – Artspace Summer Celebration (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers registered: solar telescopes: 1/2 floaters: 1/2 RAC table: 0/2 August 25 – East Regional Library (Knightdale) Coordinator: Doug L Doug will…

Recent events: June 7 –  First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Coordinator: Ana V June 19 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers: Tony, Chris, Jesus, Dave, Dean, Susan, and Steve B Attendees: ~80 Recap: Steve B – We had a good event at The Willard Rooftop summer solstice party tonight. They arranged for some influencers to be photographed looking through our volunteer’s telescopes before dark. The near-full moon was out and the haziness made…