Amateur Astronomers Association

Amateur Astronomers Association Amateur Astronomers Association, Inc. was organized in 1927 to promote the study of Astronomy, emphasizing its cultural and inspirational value. WHAT IS THE AAA?
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http://www.aaa.org
http://aaa.org/donate Since 1927, the Amateur Astronomers Association has been serving our members and the public in all aspects of amateur astronomy. If you want to keep up with the space program, learn what's happening at the frontiers of astronomical research, or just appreciate the beauty of the night sky, we can help. We sponsor lectures at the American Museum of Natural History by leading researchers, provide economical classes in astronomy to members, and hold a seminar on Recent Advances in Astronomy once a month at New York University. We also host observing sessions at several locations in the New York Metropolitan Area. Stop by and look through members' telescopes. If you're thinking of getting a telescope or binoculars, you can get advice from experienced stargazers. The Club's events for this month are listed on the calendar. We hope you will attend some of them. We produce a monthly newsletter, Eyepiece, containing several articles of interest. Be sure to take a look at some of our members' photos and articles. You may also follow us on Instagram at , and our astrophotography page at .

09/23/2026
And a happy spring for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere!We have followers all over the world!
09/21/2026

And a happy spring for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere!

We have followers all over the world!

Stargazing: Pier i Saturday, Sept. 26, 8:00 - 11:00 PM EDT
09/21/2026

Stargazing: Pier i
Saturday, Sept. 26, 8:00 - 11:00 PM EDT

Stargazing: Inwood Hill Park Saturday, Sept. 26, 8:00 - 10:00 PM EDT To arrive by subway, take the “A” train to the last...
09/21/2026

Stargazing: Inwood Hill Park
Saturday, Sept. 26, 8:00 - 10:00 PM EDT

To arrive by subway, take the “A” train to the last stop. If you are at the uptown end of the station, you can exit at Isham St. and walk up the hill to Seaman Ave. The entrance to the ballfields is on Seaman and 214th St.

Steve Bellavia has imaged this interesting object, a planetary nebula known as the Saturn Nebula, NGC 7009, or Caldwell ...
09/21/2026

Steve Bellavia has imaged this interesting object, a planetary nebula known as the Saturn Nebula, NGC 7009, or Caldwell 55.

Steve says the following about it:

The Saturn nebula,, NGC 7009, Caldwell 55, discovered by William Herschel on September 7, 1782.

Its shape vaguely resembles the planet Saturn with its rings seen nearly edge-on. The "rings" are actually high-speed jets of gas extending from the central star, a magnitude 11.5 white dwarf.

It is approximately 3,000 light-years from earth, located int the constellation Aquarius, and shines at a visual magnitude of 8.0, making it an excellent visual telescopic object.

Image Capture Information:
This was a very interesting session, as I started by testing out longer exposures, both in narrowband, as well as R-G-B, but this tiny little thing was saturating pixels, even down to 2-minute narrowband images and 30-second R-G-B. I decided to keep going with these exposures, but am hoping to try it again with even shorter exposure lengths.

It's late in the season for it (it transits tonight around 10PM tonight). But it is so bright, (visual magnitude 8) that it does well with the moon up. I also noticed little extra information from the narrowband filters, so next time, I might try a one-shot color camera with 10-second exposures, pr even shorter.
Location: Smithfield, VA

Dates and times: September 19-20, 2026, from 9:30 PM EST to 1:30 AM EST

Telescope: Apertura 6-inch Classic Cassegrain with Baader Alan-Gee reducer, which brings it to f/7.1, 1080mm focal length

Camera: ZWO ASI 294MM Pro Camera, cooled to -10 Celsius
- 30x 60 second images, Antlia 4.5nm Ha filter, in BIN2 mode
- 60x 30 second images, Baader CMOS-optimized Red-green-Blue in BIN2 mode
30 Dark frames, with 25 flats, 25 dark-flats for each filter for image calibration

Guide Scope: The Bellavia Basic 50mm, 370mm FL

Guide Camera: ZWO ASI 290MC

Seeing: 2/5 to 3/5; Transparency: 5/10 with passing clouds
Temperature: 22Celsius, and dry

A quarter phase moon was up for most of the imaging, not far from the object

Stargazing: Lincoln Center (Hearst Plaza)Wednesday, Sept. 23, 8:00 - 10:00 PM EDT We have two observing locations: Josie...
09/21/2026

Stargazing: Lincoln Center (Hearst Plaza)
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 8:00 - 10:00 PM EDT

We have two observing locations: Josie Robertson Plaza (in front of the fountain) and Hearst Plaza (near the reflecting pool).

More info at
https://aaa.org/event/stargazing-hearst-plaza/2026-09-23/

Stargazing: Brooklyn Bridge Park Wednesday, Sept. 23, 8:00 - 10:00 PM EDT
09/21/2026

Stargazing: Brooklyn Bridge Park
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 8:00 - 10:00 PM EDT

Address

209 W 29th Street, Suite 6149
New York, NY
10001

Telephone

+12125352922

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