Riverside Astronomical Society

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Riverside Astronomical Society

The RAS has been bringing the joy of astronomy to Southern Californians since 1957!

The Riverside Astronomical Society has provided civic and educational support since its beginnings in 1957. We owe our formation to people who saw the need to promote a better awareness of the night sky and astronomy to the general public. The club provides events and locations for the general public and amateur astronomers to gather, discuss, compare notes, and further develop their interest and knowledge of their shared hobby.

09/16/2026

Provided the clouds stay away, come join the Riverside Astronomical Society's outreach team for an outreach event on Saturday evening, September 19 at the Shops at Dos Lagos in Corona. It's Autumn Astronomy Day and International Observe the Moon Day! We hope to share views of the Moon (and hopefully Saturn near the end of the event). We will be set up in front of Reunion Kitchen around 7:30 pm or so, and stay until until about 9:30 pm. There are cloudy skies in the forecast, so keep your fingers crossed. It would be a good idea to check our calendar at rivastro.org before you head over in the event we have to cancel due to clouds.

08/26/2026

There's a partial lunar eclipse coming up on Thursday evening (08/27)! At max, it'll be 96% eclipsed, leaving a small sliver of the moon uneclipsed. Peak eclipsiosity (😆) is at 9:12 PM local time. Be sure to take a look to the south east to view it!

08/26/2026

Our monthly meeting is coming up! — The moons Enceladus (Saturn) and Europa (Jupiter) seem to be the best candidates for hosting microbial life in our solar system. Learn about why that's the case, the challenges of exploring these worlds, and the space missions that intend to provide the data to help us take the next step in discovery.

Details at >> https://www.rivastro.org/ras-meetings.php

07/18/2026

Join us tomorrow for our monthly meeting. It's free — as always! Get more information about how to attend RAS meetings, and read a brief bio of our guest speaker along with an abstract of his presentation: https://www.rivastro.org/ras-meetings.php

06/23/2026

How the first galaxies and solar systems formed and evolved is still a bit of a mystery. There's still a lot to learn but the current armada of advanced telescopes and other instruments is helping to break down the barriers and lift the fog. Join us at our next monthly meeting for details on the latest technology and methods for lifting the veil of the early universe.

Click for more details > https://www.rivastro.org/ras-meetings.php

04/07/2026

The telescopes, observatories, and science programs at Mt. Wilson are iconic. Tim Thompson has been involved with the mountain top for decades — he'll give us an overview of activities at Mt. Wilson over the years. He might answer a chess question or two as well. Join us at our next club meeting to enjoy his presentation!

https://www.rivastro.org/ras-meetings.php

04/04/2026

Amazing images from the Orion space capsule during the Artemis II mission. Both images are of the night-time side of the Earth. If you zoom in, you can see the night lights of larger cities on the planet.

The images have been rotated 180 degrees to put Earth's north pole at the top of each frame. Photos were taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft's windows after the translunar injection burn was completed on April 2. The images were captured with a Nikon D5 at ISO 51200 with a focal length of 22mm on the camera lens. The top image was taken on April 3 at 12:27 am at f/4, 1/4 second exposure. The bottom image was taken right after the first, at f/5.6 and 1/15 second exposure.

You can see auroras at the top right and bottom left in the first image. The Zodiacal Light can be seen on the top left, visible as the Earth eclipses the sun. The bright dot of light to the upper left is Venus.

02/28/2026

This month’s full moon (March 3 at 3:38 am PDT) is known as the Worm Moon. It was believed that this name referred to earthworms appearing as soil warms in early spring; however, historical research points to Captain Jonathan Carver recording in the 1760s that the moon’s name referred to beetle larvae emerging from thawing tree bark. Check out more, along with information about the total lunar eclipse the night of March 2-3 here: https://www.almanac.com/content/full-moon-march

02/28/2026

We have a total lunar eclipse coming up during the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 3. It will be the last one visible from Riverside, CA until June 2029. The eclipse starts at 1:49 am and ends at 5:17 am here in Riverside (you can check for timings at your location with a quick web search). If you just want to get a look during totality, take a look between 3:03 am and 4:02 am.

This is a short video about the eclipse that I put together and shared as part of my Chief Observer's Report at our February 21 club meeting. Eclipse timings for Riverside are shown at the end of the video.

02/20/2026

Get ready for a total lunar eclipse in the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 3rd! This one is kind of special because another total lunar eclipse won't be visible from southern California from start to finish until 2029! (Totality begins after moonset for the December 31, 2028 lunar eclipse.)

Totality for this one starts at 3:33 AM on Tuesday, March 3rd. Assuming the sky is clear, get outside to view the Blood Moon!

How do we know all this? Science!!!

This photo is of the 1/31/2018 total lunar eclipse taken from GMARS in Landers, CA.

Address

Goat Mountain Astronomical Research Station (GMARS)
Landers, CA
92285

Website

http://www.rivastro.org/

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