Welcome!

                            
                                                                                                                               You Can print this poster and post it around town.
Due to renovations at the Planetarium, ASTRA Meetings will start at 8:00pm
at Ocean County College in the College Center Solar Lounge Bld # 12
 

Club Newsletter (PDF)
Message Board
Local Weather
The Sky Tonight
ASTRA Observing Log (MS  Word)
  ASTRA MS Word Documents
Messier Marathon Sequence
Color Filter Selection


                                            Meeting Information


 January 11th -Telescope Workshop- Starts at 7:00pm open to anyone who recently purchased a telescope or who has a telescope and would like to 
learn how to use it.

February 8th - Cinema Scopes II - Presented by Bob Salvatore

March 14th - Astronomy Equipment and/or Book, show & tell

April 11th - Preparations and ideas for Astronomy Day; Review of the
Night Sky Network.

May 9th - Final preparations for Astronomy Day; Open Meeting.

June 13th - Astronomers in History - Presented by Bob Salvatore.

July 11th - Speaker - George Hamilton; Former director of the
Franklin Institute.

August - ASTRA Picnic; No Meeting.

September 12th - Open Meeting.
October 10th - Open Meeting.
November 14th - Open Meeting.
December 12th - Open Meeting.




     Items For Sale
                                              Star Parties

Coyle Field - (Club Members) Check Message Board for dates and times.

January - Check Message Board.

February 20th - Lunar Eclipse; 8:00pm at the OCC Student Center. (open to the public).

March 11th - Astro Nova/ ASTRA at Central Regional Middle School Bayville, NJ (Club members only).

April 4th to April 6th - SJAC Spring Star Party; (registration on their website).
April 25th - Boy Scouts Pack #20 (50+ kids) Spring Lake, NJ (Club members only).
April 24th and 25th - 2 Day Astro-Imaging Conference at Rockland Community College, Suffern, NY
April 26th and 27th - Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF)

May 10th - Astronomy Day - All day presentations and night-viewing at OCC (open to the public).

May 29th to June 1st - Cherry Springs Star Party; (registration on their website).

June 20th - "Earth Watch/Drexel Star Party" Waretown, NJ (Private Event)
June 21st - Wells Mills County Park Star Party Waretown, NJ (Private Event)
June 21st - Island Heights Town camp-out/sleep over star party (Private Event)

July 5th - "Earth Watch/Drexel Star Party" Waretown, NJ (Private Event)
July 18th - "Earth Watch/Drexel Star Party" Waretown, NJ (Private Event)

August 1st - "Earth Watch/Drexel Star Party" Waretown, NJ (Private Event)
August 15th -  "Earth Watch/Drexel Star Party" Waretown, NJ (Private Event)
August 29th -  "Earth Watch/Drexel Star Party" Waretown, NJ (Private Event)

September - (TBA) Berkeley Pride Day Bayville, NJ.

October 24th to 26th - Stella Della Valley 2008 star party Camp Onis, Ottsville, PA
November - Check Message Board.
December - Check Message Board.


The Night Sky Network                                    The Astronomical League                                          Save the Planetarium 
                                                                                                  


Dr. R. Erik Zimmermann ASTRA Page                 OCC offers 2 new courses in Astronomy to satisfy AA liberal arts lab science requirements! 

                                                                                  

WHAT IS A.S.T.R.A.?

The Astronomical Society of the Toms River Area (A.S.T.R.A.) is open to anyone who is interested in astronomy and space sciences. Members are of all ages and all levels of experience. Many are novices, some are advanced observers.  Beginners are especially welcome. The club enjoys close relations with other astronomical organizations on the local and national level.

A.S.T.R.A. is associated with The Robert J. Novins Planetarium

Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ.


The objective of A.S.T.R.A. is to provide an open forum for those interested in astronomy to explore all aspects of this fascinating science.

While A.S.T.R.A. is based in Ocean County, many members come from surrounding counties, and several live out of state. There is no geographical restriction, and a number of members belong to more than one club. See our Links Page for more information about related organizations.


 ASTRA MS Word Documents


OTHER ACTIVITIES

ASTRONOMY DAY Astronomy Day is an annual world-wide celebration of amateur astronomy. It's normally held on a Saturday between mid-April and mid-May each year. A.S.T.R.A. participates with

 

PERSEID PICNIC  A.S.T.R.A. members celebrate the annual Perseid meteor shower with a picnic and star party on the Saturday closest to the peak of the shower, which occurs around August 12 each year. This event is limited to club members and their guests.

GUEST SPEAKERS  - Some A.S.T.R.A. members are available from time to time for short lectures or to provide basic astronomical information for school science fairs, Scout groups, etc.


CLUB TELESCOPES

A.S.T.R.A. owns two small telescopes of 6 inches and 8 inches aperture, with Dobsonian- type mountings; and a 5 inch aperture refractor with an equatorial mount. After suitable training, club members may borrow these telescopes for a month at a time.

HOW TO JOIN

Print this Membership sign up form , fill in the information and mail it to the address enclosed, or bring it in to the next meeting.
If you have trouble accessing the file, hit cancel when it asks for User Name. It will then load.

Dues are $20.00 for the first year, and $15.00 per year thereafter. There's an additional charge of $1.00 for each additional member of the family who joins A.S.T.R.A., to cover the cost of refreshments at meetings.

 Visitors are always welcome at meetings. It's not necessary to pay dues immediately; many people attend several meetings before deciding whether or not to join.

 Privileges of membership include

FOR MORE INFORMATION --  Contact us or come to our Meetings