Category: News
News and Updates
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NOVAC Public Meeting: Join NOVAC Astronomers for “Wide-field astrophotography with Dan Zafra ” Online, July 12, 2026
Dan Zafra of Capture the Atlas presents: Wide-field astrophotography Dan Zafra will share his approach to wide field photography, drawing on years of experience as a professional landscape astrophotographer and founder of Capture the Atlas, a leading online photography resource. His talk will cover the planning, shooting, and processing techniques he developed through deep immersion in the craft, including things that made a real difference in the quality of his images. Those Read more […] -
NOVAC Public Meeting Join NOVAC Astronomers for “One Rig to Image Them All” at GMU or Online June 14, 2026
NOVAC member Alex Gorbachev will explain how you can image planets and deep-sky objects with a single rig and a unified setup. In this talk, he will take you through a multi-year journey that led to the development of two versatile imaging systems capable of operating both in the field and remotely, supporting high-resolution planetary imaging as well as deep-sky astrophotography. His goal is to encourage experimentation. He will share what worked, what did not, and the lessons learned along the way. This presentation offers practical ideas and proven solutions that may help you refine your own setup and push further in this challenging and rewarding hobby. Read more […] -
NOVAC Public Meeting: Join NOVAC Astronomers for “Neutron Stars: Nature’s Most Versatile Laboratories” Online, May 3, 2026
Dr. Jacob Turner presents: Neutron Stars: Nature’s Most Versatile Laboratories Dr. Jacob Turner Neutron stars are ultra-dense, rapidly spinning objects born in the violent deaths of more massive stars. Smaller on average than Manhattan, these stars have proven to be among the most multifaceted naturally occurring laboratories every found, with applications ranging from studying the structure of the galaxy, to exploring the existence of exotic states of matter, to detecting perturbations Read more […] -
NOVAC Public Meeting: Join NOVAC Astronomers for “Dragonfly, a Robotic Aerial Exploration of Prebiotic Chemistry and Habitability on Saturn’s moon Titan” Online, April 12, 2026
Dr. Elizabeth Turtle presents: Dragonfly: Robotic Aerial Exploration of Prebiotic Chemistry and Habitability on Saturn’s moon Titan Dr. Elizabeth Turtle Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is an ocean world with a dense atmosphere, abundant complex organic material on its icy surface, and a liquid-water ocean in its interior. The joint NASA-ESA Cassini-Huygens mission revealed Titan to be surprisingly Earth-like, with active geological processes and opportunities for organic material Read more […] -
NOVAC Public Meeting: Join NOVAC Astronomers for “Following in the Footsteps of George R. Carruthers” GMU and Online, March 8, 2026
Dr. Lara Waldrop presents: Following in the Footsteps of George R. Carruthers One of the most significant gaps in our knowledge of Earth’s near-space environment concerns its outermost neutral atmosphere layer known as the exosphere. This region plays a critical role in mediating Earth’s recovery from geomagnetic storms and is the pathway by which its constituent hydrogen (H) atoms are able escape Earth’s gravity and become lost to outer space, leading to permanent planetary evolution. Knowledge Read more […] -
NOVAC Public Meeting Join NOVAC Astronomers for “The surprising value of comet morphology” Online February 8, 2026
Drawings of comets’ appearances date back at least two thousand years, making the study of comet ‘morphology’ among the oldest endeavors in all of astronomy. While many newer techniques have been invented to study comets, assessment of their morphology continues to hold scientific value today. Dr. Matthew Knight will discuss how he uses specialized ‘narrowband’ comet filters on modestly sized telescopes to infer properties of the nuclei of active comets. Read more […] -
NOVAC Public Meeting Join NOVAC Astronomers for “StarFront Observatory: A New Journey for an Urban Astronomer” at GMU or Online January 11, 2026
NOVAC member Robert Capon will present his experiences setting up a remote telescope at the StarFront Observatory in Texas. Rob will take us through the process from design considerations and transportation of the equipment, to setting it up and getting everything operational. If you’re thinking about setting up a remote telescope, you won’t want to miss this discussion. Read more […]
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NOVAC Public Meeting: Join NOVAC Astronomers for “Electronic Assisted Astronomy: Antidote for Urban Light Pollution” Virtual only, December 14, 2025, 4:00 PM
Electronic Assisted Astronomy: Antidote for Urban Light PollutionLiving in or near Washington DC and most of the eastern seaboard harbors challenges for night sky observing. Severe light pollution, limited horizons, high humidity and periodic smoke particles in the jet stream and more contribute to poor astronomy observing. A group of scientists and engineers formed a company in 2015 with a goal of making stargazing observation more accessible. They formed Unistellar and launched a Kickstarter Read more […]
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NOVAC Public Meeting: Join NOVAC Astronomers for an Astro Gear Swap Meet at George Mason November 9, 2025
Annual Swap Meet!
All NOVAC members, guests, and the public are welcome to attend—no RSVP required.Join us in person at George Mason University .Come early to connect with fellow
astronomy enthusiasts and stay for our annual Astronomy “Garage Sale” event!Meeting Schedule
4:00 PM – Join colleagues at GMU for socializing
4:00 PM – Online meeting opens for participant discussion
4:30 PM – NOVAC news, announcements, and upcoming events
5:00 – 6:00 PM – Annual Astronomy “Garage Read more […] -
NOVAC Public Meeting, Dr. Nancy Chabot presents: Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART): October 12, 4:30 pm EDT
Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART): The First Mission to Move an AsteroidOn September 26, 2022, NASA’s DART mission successfully impacted the asteroid Dimorphos and made history as the first test of asteroid deflection. As a part of NASA’s overall planetary defense strategy, DART’s impact with the asteroid Dimorphos, which poses no threat to Earth, demonstrated a mitigation technique for potentially protecting the planet from an Earth-bound asteroid in the future, if one were discovered. Following Read more […]
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