Just 2 weeks away! Join us for our biggest 90th anniversary event featuring National Geographic Explorer at Large Babak Tafreshi, renowned science photojournalist and founder of The World at Night project. Free & open to the public. WMU Rood Hall, Room 1104. Details: www.kasonline.org/schedule.html

Tonight's Public Observing Session at the Kalamazoo Nature Center is ON! Gates open at 7pm. Highlights include the Moon, Saturn, and Galaxies of Autumn—including the Andromeda Galaxy. This is the final public session of the season. Be sure to dress warmly! www.kasonline.org/observing.html

Tonight's observing event with the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy has been canceled because of inclement weather. We look forward to planning another event with them in the future.

Tonight's Public Observing Session at the Kalamazoo Nature Center is ON! Gates open at 7pm. Highlights include Saturn and The Great Square. Saturn is at opposition tonight, so its rings will be at their absolute brightest. www.kasonline.org/observing.html

KAS DOUBLE HEADER! Please join us TONIGHT—October 2nd, at 7pm EDT—for Astrophotography Night. Nine KAS members are excited to share their passion for capturing the beauty of the night sky. Come out and show your support. Learn more on our schedule page at www.kasonline.org/schedule.html.

Another season of Online Viewing Sessions featuring the KAS Remote Telescope starts on November 7th. Register now to join us virtually under the dark, desert skies of southeastern Arizona. For full details, visit www.kasonline.org/viewing.html.

The Public Observing Session for September 19th has been CANCELED due to inclement weather conditions. Our next attempt is on October 3rd. For more information, visit www.kasonline.org/observing.html.

You are invited to join us tomorrow, Friday, September 11th, at 7pm EDT, for our monthly general meeting. Prof. Evan Kirby, from the University of Notre Dame, will be our special guest speaker. Professor Kirby will present "Extragalactic Archaeology." Learn more at www.kasonline.org/schedule.html.

Skies are expected to start clearing after sunset, so tonight's Public Observing Session at the Kalamazoo Nature Center is ON! Gates will open at 8:00 pm. Tonight's highlights include deep-sky objects in and around the Summer Triangle. For more details, visit www.kasonline.org/observing.html.

Here's an image taken by KAS President Richard Bell of the peak of last night's Partial Lunar Eclipse, at 12:12 am EDT. Equipment used for this shot included a Stellarvue 130mm refractor and a Canon EOS R5 camera mounted on an Astro-Physics Mach1GTO. It is a 4-second exposure at ISO 100.

A deep partial lunar eclipse will be visible to skywatchers across North America on the night of August 27th-28th. As viewed from West Michigan, the umbral phase of the eclipse begins at 10:34 pm EDT. You’ll slowly notice the eastern (left) half of the Moon grow progressively darker.

Tonight's Public Observing Session is ON! The gates at the Kalamazoo Nature Center will open at 9pm. Highlights of the evening include the stunning rilles, maria, mountain ranges, and craters on the Waxing Gibbous Moon. Admission is FREE! www.kasonline.org/observing.html

Despite a chance for scattered thunderstorms in the morning, skies are predicted to be clear for our next Public Observing Session on Saturday, August 22nd. The highlight of the night is a Waxing Gibbous Moon. www.kasonline.org/observing.html

Tonight's Public Observing Session is ON! Highlights include Super Summer Star Clusters. Kalamazoo Nature Center gates open at 9pm. Admission is FREE…as always. www.kasonline.org/observing.html

A new month is upon us. Let's hope the nights of August will be clearer and drier than those in July. If that's the case, prepare by downloading our free August Night Sky starmap. The stars of summer await you! www.kasonline.org/files/0826ma...

Tonight's Public Observing Session is CANCELED due to anticipated cloud cover moving in as night falls. We will try again on August 8th. www.kasonline.org/observing.html

Tonight's Public Observing Session at the Kalamazoo Nature Center is ON! Gates open at 9:30 pm. Highlights include Super Summer Nebulae. The peak of the summer observing season is here; join us! Admission is FREE. Learn more at www.kasonline.org/observing.html.

Looking for some reading material during this hot and humid holiday weekend? Then check out the July 2026 issue of our award-winning newsletter, "Prime Focus." This issue contains four fascinating articles from our members. Download it for free right now: www.kasonline.org/primefocus/2...

Tonight's Public Observing Session at the Kalamazoo Nature Center is ON! Gates open no later than 9:30 pm. The highlights of the evening will feature Great Globular Clusters, along with observations of the nearly first-quarter Moon and Venus. Admission is FREE! www.kasonline.org/observing.html

The forecast looks promising for this Saturday's Public Observing Session at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. , We'll observe Great Globular Clusters and much more. Gates will open at 9:30 pm if the skies are clear. More info: www.kasonline.org/observing.html

The two brightest planets in the night sky, Venus and Jupiter, will come together for a close conjunction at dusk on June 9th. Venus will be positioned a mere 1½° to the upper right of Jupiter. If you view them with binoculars, you may be able to spot some of Jupiter's Galilean moons as well.

Tonight's Public Observing Session is ON! The gates at the Kalamazoo Nature Center will open by 9:30 PM. Highlights of the evening include viewing Spring Star Clusters. For more information, please visit our observing page: www.kasonline.org/observing.html

Our 70+ year tradition, Gadget Night, is back at tonight's general meeting. Join us at WMU's Rood Hall to discover the results of members' latest brainstorming We'll also present a report on the most exciting gadgets showcased at NEAF in Suffern, NY. Learn more at www.kasonline.org/schedule.html.

There's still a chance of aurora tonight, but we won't get to see it thanks to clouds. In related news, KAS President Richard Bell spoke with WWMT out at Owl Observatory yesterday afternoon. He talked about the best way to observe aurora when it's actually clear! wwmt.com/news/local/v...

West Michigan may have a chance to view Northern Lights during solar storm

West Michiganders may get another opportunity to spot the northern lights this week as a solar storm moves toward Earth.

wwmt.com

AURORA ALERT! A strong geomagnetic storm, caused by a cannibal coronal mass ejection, is headed for Earth and could spark auroras tonight. Find yourself an open field away from city lights. Watch this site for updates: www.spaceweatherlive.com

SpaceWeatherLive.com | Real-time data and plots auroral activity

Real-Time solar activity and auroral activity data website

spaceweatherlive.com

Nights are growing shorter as we near the summer solstice on June 21st, but there’s still plenty of time for stargazing. Download our complimentary June Night Sky star map, which will help you identify the brightest stars and constellations of the season. www.kasonline.org/files/0626ma...

You can now watch the featured presentation from the May General Meeting, “A Lifetime of Comet Searching: Using the Night Sky to Support an Exhilarating Life” by Dr David Levy, on our YouTube channel. youtu.be/2gAVaZcSlHE?...

"A Lifetime of Comet Searching" by Dr. David Levy

YouTube video by Kalamazoo Astronomical Society

youtu.be

There's a pass of the International Space Station this evening starting at 10:05 pm EDT in the WNW. It reaches its max magnitude (-3.3) and altitude (50°) at 10:08 pm in the SW. Note from the chart below (courtesy of Heaven's Above) that it will pass between Pollux, which is in Gemini, and Jupiter.

If you're sitting at home thinking to yourself, “There is no way the KAS is going to be holding tonight’s observing session,” you are correct! It has been CANCELED. The next attempt is on June 6th. Have a great holiday weekend!

Grab your binoculars or simply use your eyes and hope for clear skies! Tomorrow, May 18th, at dusk, look for a two-day-old waxing crescent Moon, featuring earthshine. It will be located 2½° to the upper right of the brilliant Venus. Using binoculars will enhance this stunning scene.