Activities and Events
Tours, on-site activities, outdoor adventures, and the annual raffle — plus speakers and talks throughout the weekend.
See last year’s full schedule (PDF) for a sense of what a typical AHSP weekend looks like. The exact 2027 schedule will be published closer to the event — all times below are illustrative and subject to change based on weather and sky conditions.
Tours
Green Bank Observatory: Behind-the-Scenes Tour
Saturday — meet on the outdoor deck to form carpools for a noon start at GBO/Green Bank.
A true “behind-the-scenes” tour — participants get to visit labs and the telescope control room, locations normally off-limits to the public.
Cass Scenic Railroad: Whitaker Station Run
Sunday — meet on the outdoor deck for carpools; the train departs mid-morning.
A daylight activity for any weather — the 2-hour round trip to Whitaker Station recreates part of the area’s logging history. Definitely a family activity. We’ll provide snacks; lunch is on your own in Cass or elsewhere. Depending on how quickly you return, you can easily make it back for afternoon activities, dinner, and the evening program.
If you haven’t been, the NRAO Green Bank Telescope Science Center is often open in the afternoon with public tours on the hour. Full details on the free Cass town tours and the Locomotive Shop Tour are on the Cass Scenic Railroad State Park website.
On-Site Activities
Swap Table
Friday afternoon on the Yurt deck.
Bring your astronomy, observing, or space-related items to sell. All transactions are private, between buyers and sellers — sellers should stay with their items while they’re on display.
Back Ridge Observatory Open House
Sunday afternoon — meet on the deck, or head straight to the observatory.Hosted by Joe Morris
Joe opens up the observatory he’s made available for SKMC’s use, on the ridge northwest of the observing fields.
Shared Solar Observing
Saturday & Sunday afternoon on the Yurt deck.
Bring your solar telescope or filtered astronomical telescope to the deck to share views of the Sun.
Sky Tours
Friday & Saturday at twilight, in the observing fields near the registration tent.
An introduction to the naked-eye sky as it appears in early fall, led by an experienced outreach volunteer once it’s dark enough to begin.
Observing 201, Part 2
Friday evening in the observing fields near the registration tent.Led by NOVAC mentors
Finding easy objects in the sky with binoculars or small telescopes — part 2 of the workshop that begins with a daylight discussion earlier in the weekend. Targets are selected in conjunction with the Astronomical League’s Binocular Observing Challenge.
Outdoor Events
Canoeing
Saturday morning, departing from the Yurt deck.Led by Spruce Knob Mountain Center staff
SKMC staff lead a canoe trip on Spruce Knob Lake. Canoes and safety gear are provided.
Birdwatching
Saturday or Sunday morning, right after breakfast — weather permitting.
Whether you’re a seasoned birdwatcher or a casual observer, you’re sure to enjoy seeing what West Virginia has to offer. Bring binoculars if you have them, and shoes that can handle some dew — we’ll be walking through uncut grass.
Caving
Saturday afternoon.Led by Spruce Knob Mountain Center staff
SKMC staff lead a trip to a local Shenandoah cave — human cave visits are not considered a contributing factor to White Nose Syndrome in bats, so caves in the area have reopened. Prepare to get muddy!
Prizes
AHSP Raffle
AHSP holds a raffle every year, with prizes provided by sponsors, NOVAC, and Experience Learning. Details are subject to adjustment year to year, but generally:
- Adult registrants receive blue tickets, usable for the special raffle item or general items.
- Child registrants receive yellow tickets, usable for children’s items or general items.
- Any registrant can buy red tickets at Registration or on the Yurt Deck, usable for general items only.
- The drawing is held Saturday evening before dinner — you must be present to win.
Speakers & Talks
We feature speakers Friday and Saturday evening in the outside yurt, plus a few other presentations over the weekend. In past years we’ve also run virtual pre-event sessions for registered attendees, covering trip planning and observing prep — invitations go out by email closer to the event.
The 2027 speaker lineup hasn’t been announced yet. Here’s who spoke last year, so you know what to expect.
Geoff Chester — 150 Years and Counting!
U.S. Naval Observatory · Friday evening, outside yurt
The sesquicentennial of the U.S. Naval Observatory’s 26-inch “Great Equatorial” telescope — its origins, the trials and tribulations of its early years, and its ability to evolve to adapt to 21st-century observing techniques.
Geoff Chester is the retired Public Affairs Officer and Historian for the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, DC. Before that, he spent 19 years at the Smithsonian’s Albert Einstein Planetarium as staff astronomer, photographer, and visual production coordinator. He’s been observing the sky for more than 60 years, and is a member of the American Astronomical Society, the Alliance of Historic Observatories, the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, DarkSky International, and NOVAC.
Ryan Goodson — New Moon Telescopes
Saturday evening, outside yurt
A talk on telescope-making.
Past Presentations
Recordings from previous years’ pre-event sessions — still genuinely useful if you’re planning your first trip to AHSP.
Alex Gorbachev — AHSP Camping Checklist
Paul Derby — Three Years with a Unistellar eVscope
Paul’s experience with the eVscope, and what’s happened in that product landscape since.
Matt Penn — The Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative
Matt Penn got interested in astronomy when his parents bought him a telescope in third grade. He earned a bachelor’s in astronomy from Caltech and a PhD from the University of Hawaii, and spent 26 years in solar physics research at observatories in New Mexico, California, and Arizona. He’s now an electro-optics engineer in the defense industry and adjunct faculty at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, still pursuing astronomy as an amateur.
Ed Witkowski — Observing Star Clusters
Cindy Krach — Sketching at the Telescope
Cindy Krach, DVM, is a retired animal surgeon who observes and sketches deep-sky objects nightly from her driveway in Kula, Maui. She coordinates the Astronomical League’s sketching observing program and award, and is a member of the Haleakala Amateur Astronomers. Some of her sketches have appeared in Sky & Telescope, including a lunar sketch on the 2022 cover. She’s currently building a truss telescope for an 8″ mirror she ground and figured herself.