When we peer into the night sky and look at the constellation Orion, we see the red supergiant star Betelgeuse.  If theory is correct, it will go supernova in the next 100,000 years and will be so bright it will be visible during the day.  We image the remnants of supernovae when we image M1, the Crab Nebula, or when we image the Cygnus Loop.  Many of us were lucky enough to image the supernova in M101, The Pinwheel Galaxy, a few years ago.  A supernova is one of the most energetic events in the entire universe.  M101 sits about 23 million light years away.  The closest supernova in modern times took place in 1987 in the Large Magellanic Cloud at a mere 165,000 light years away.  Ever wonder how a massive star that has burned for millions of years is destroyed in a matter of hours?  That's the story of a supernova.

Joe has had an interest in Astronomy since High School.   His school had a planetarium, a 20" Newtonian reflector and a Physics and Astronomy teacher who was fresh out of college and eager to use them to teach.  He went on to get a BS in Physics at Penn State where he developed a particular interest in Cosmology.  While he chose a different career path, his interest in Physics, Astrophysics and specifically Cosmology never waned and he continued to read books on the topic.  He joined LVAAS in 2019 to continue to learn more about Astronomy.  He is in charge of the Library and uses Astro-Imaging as another way to learn about objects in the sky.

Founded in 1957, the Lehigh Valley Amateur Astronomical Society (LVAAS) is one of the oldest continuously-operating amateur astronomy organizations in the U.S. The mission of LVAAS is to promote the study of Astronomy and to maintain meeting spaces, observatories, and a planetarium.

LVAAS operates two astronomy sites: The South Mountain site in Salisbury Township is the headquarters of the Society. It has a planetarium with a Spitz A3P projector, a 21-foot dome, meeting space, the Red Shift store, library, workshop space, and three observatories. The Pulpit Rock site near Hamburg is LVAAS's members-only dark sky site. At 1,600 feet above sea level, the site features five observatories and a pad for members' scopes.

Members who receive training on the scopes may obtain keys to the observatories. LVAAS also maintains a rental "fleet" of telescopes that members may rent at low cost. Members also receive access to The Observer, our online newsletter, as well as reduced subscription prices to Sky and Telescope and Astronomy Magazine. If you want to learn more about astronomy and LVAAS, please join us at our next public star party.

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