PERKINSVILLE, Vt. – The August Southern Vermont Astronomy Group (SoVerA) meeting will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 6:30 p.m., at the 1879 Schoolhouse, 1862 Vermont Route 106, Perkinsville, Vt.
The meeting will include a potluck dinner, and solar and nighttime telescope viewing.
Solar viewing will begin at 6:30 p.m. There will be two or three solar telescopes in use, including the Coronado 70 SolarMaxx III double-stack solar telescope, which is kept at the Weathersfield Proctor Library.
If it doesn’t rain, there will be a grill available, so bring your own hot dogs or burgers. SoVerA will provide a cooler of bottled water. Bring a potluck dish to share, and your own plates, cups, and utensils.
We have received the gift of a collection of astronomy books from a recently retired astronomy professor. We will be giving those books away to interested people at the meeting. There will also be an opportunity for people to see the observatory on site, and to see when we plan to install it.
At 7:30 p.m., there will be a brief formal meeting to elect officers for the coming year. This should take no more than 15 minutes, and all are invited to participate. After the formal meeting ends, we will set up telescopes for nighttime viewing.
If you have your own telescope, feel free to bring it along. We will be setting up on Hoisington Field, adjacent to the 1879 Schoolhouse. There will be plenty of room. If you have a scope but don’t know much about using it, bring it along. There will be experienced amateur astronomers who can help you get familiar with it.
This will be a great opportunity for folks of all ages to do some celestial viewing. There will be several different kinds of telescopes in use, which you will be able to look through. With luck, we will be viewing planets and deep sky objects like galaxies and nebulae.
If you have a good pair of binoculars, bring it along. Also, bring bug spray and a folding lawn chair, preferably one that allows you to lean back in comfort.
As is always the case with planned astronomy events, we don’t control the weather. So, check the local forecast and go to www.sovera.org for updates.
Regardless of the weather, we will definitely hold the meeting with a potluck, free books, and the election of officers. Join us whether the weather cooperates or not.
There will not be a Zoom component to this month’s meeting.
This meeting is cohosted by SoVerA, the Weathersfield Proctor Library, and the Reading Public Library.