Des Moines Astronomical Society
Des Moines Astronomical Society
  • Home
  • The Sky
  • Public Schedule
  • Private Groups
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Our Observatory
    • Photo Album
    • Join
    • History
    • Mission
    • Board Members
  • Members
  • More
    • Home
    • The Sky
    • Public Schedule
    • Private Groups
    • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Our Observatory
      • Photo Album
      • Join
      • History
      • Mission
      • Board Members
    • Members
  • Sign In

  • My Account
  • Signed in as:

  • filler@godaddy.com


  • My Account
  • Sign out

Signed in as:

filler@godaddy.com

  • Home
  • The Sky
  • Public Schedule
  • Private Groups
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Our Observatory
    • Photo Album
    • Join
    • History
    • Mission
    • Board Members
  • Members

Account


  • My Account
  • Sign out


  • Sign In
  • My Account
data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAD/ACwAAAAAAQABAAACADs=

Ashton Observatory

Ashton ObservatoryAshton ObservatoryAshton Observatory

The night sky is calling you

Ashton Observatory

Ashton ObservatoryAshton ObservatoryAshton Observatory

The night sky is calling you

A rare comet has been spotted

You may have read that a rare comet is coming into view - hasn't been seen here for 50,000 years. That makes it a pretty special event. Comets are notoriously unpredictable for how bright they might get, so we will have to watch to see. The diagram below shows the position at 1:00 a.m. on Jan. 14 and 21. It will be higher with each passing hour. From day to day it will move up and left as shown. Click the image to expand. To view a video with more details click the button below.

Find out more

Exploring the Night Sky over Central Iowa

 As normal activities resume, this is what we say about DMAS:  The Des Moines Astronomical Society is a club of amateur astronomers dedicated to sharing their passion for astronomy with visitors to Ashton Observatory located in dark skies northeast of Des Moines. The Observatory is open to the public each Saturday evening, April through October. Admission is free, and for all ages. Saturday Public Nights begin at 8:00 p.m. and sometimes begin with a classroom presentation. Stargazing through the large telescopes in our two domes at Ashton Observatory follow as sky conditions allow. 

Saturday Public Nights

Saturday evenings from April through October offer programs and stargazing for the general public. Free admission.  The classroom action begins at 8:00 p.m.

Private Groups

Schedule a private visit for your group, club, students, family, to experience the night sky away from urban light pollution. 

Daytime visits are also available.

Find out more

Recent activities

We did gather outdoors at Ashton for the recent lunar eclipse on May 15, 2022. It was a beautiful night and a number of visitors stopped by and enjoyed the views. Hope you got a chance to see the eclipse. Here are a few photos from that night taken by a DMAS member.

Online Presentation May 24, 2022

Ken Young presented a program on the recent imaging of the Milky Way's black hole:  https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/jPK8Klry_EIOcJEFAcr38QYGjmjW5ZZoAjigNEjoruMgScM9ZIlNtHeBYVh88twf.0sv4gSK1PggnQ15C 

Passcode:  %e9Bqj9=

Online Presentation January 15, 2022

Gabe Brammer presented his work using gravitational lensing to detect a concealed supernova. To view a video recording of the program, click the link below and enter the passcode (must include the "?" at start and "." at end). 

https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/GofF2CrFqUKXu62hrgXLkNh61T-K3DaQzHiQg95EoIk-kRzGJKUh5iIEBGp1pQ-_.A4h_sPluaO7jlCG2 

Access Passcode: ?NMg9CA.

Contact Us

Get in Touch

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Have a question? Send us a message, and we will get back to you as soon as we can. You can use the form to the left or contact us by mail or email.


Mailing address:

The Des Moines Astronomical Society, Inc.

PO Box 111 

Des Moines IA, 50301 


Email address: 

info@dmastronomy.com

The Des Moines Astronomical Society, Inc.

Copyright © 2021 Des Moines Astronomical Society - All Rights Reserved.

Ashton Observatory is located in Ashton Wildwood County Park, Jasper County, IA

Powered by GoDaddy