LVAS: Shooting for the Stars - Millennials in Motion Magazine

LVAS – The Las Vegas Astronomical Society

Helping people reach for the stars, the Las Vegas Astronomical Society (LVAS) makes astronomy more accessible to those interested in broadening their horizons and exploring the night sky.

Keith Caceres, LVAS president since January 2020, shared that the club consists of amateur astronomers working to promote the love and enjoyment of astronomy in Southern Nevada. Established in 1980 and incorporated as a nonprofit in 1983, the club started with a few professors meeting at each others’ houses and holding sessions in their living rooms.

The LVAS has grown over the years and operates in partnership with the College of Southern Nevada Planetarium.

According to the LVAS website, the club provides resources for people interested in learning about astronomy or advancing their experience. They provide these resources through regularly scheduled monthly meetings and observation sessions. At these events, the club shares information on current astronomical events, tools and techniques for observation, astrophotography, astronomical computer software, and other topics concerning general astronomy.

The CSN Planetarium at the Cheyenne campus also hosts the club for their monthly meetings on the first Thursday of the month at 7:30 pm. On occasion, the Planetarium also allows the public to come out for special events and experience the night sky through high-powered telescopes. Dr. Andrew Kerr, manager of the Planetarium, facilitates these meetings.

Opportunities to Explore

Through the in-person planetarium meetings, people can come out to ask questions and even bring their own telescopes to get help with them.

“Usually, the most common question is what telescope to buy,” Caceres said. “We suggest coming to the events and checking out the different telescopes we have to get a feeling and understanding of the scopes. There are different pros and cons based on what you’re trying to look at.”

Generally, Caceres said, a good beginner telescope with a decent-sized mirror will cost you about $200.

“A good starter scope might be something like the Orion StarBlast 4.5 Astro Reflector,” he said. This telescope uses a 4.5-inch parabolic primary mirror, allowing for decent views of a wide variety of astronomical objects.

Other Resources Available

In addition to the meetings and observation sessions, resources are also provided on the LVAS website for people at all levels of astronomy.

These include the following:

The LVAS Facebook group also provides a platform for people to ask questions about telescopes, viewing opportunities, and anything else related to astronomy.

Events

The Las Vegas Astronomical Society hosts several monthly and yearly events to provide the public with astronomy resources and viewing opportunities.

Monthly

LVAS generally hosts public stargazing events at local parks around town and other locations just outside the city every month.

In addition to the CSN planetarium, these locations have previously included Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, Lake Mead Recreational Area, both the Red Rock Conservation Area and Mount Charleston visitor centers, places in Southern Highlands, and at Skye Canyon. These events happen monthly, except for December, to take a break for the holidays.

The club also hosts its monthly meetings held on the first Thursday of the month and are free and open to the public.

Due to the pandemic, these meetings went virtual last year and only recently returned to in-person this month, with the club meeting at the CSN planetarium back on July 1st. At the club meetings held at the planetarium, telescope viewing is not usually available.

The next monthly meeting will be held on August 5th. The next event will be held on August 13th, where Lake Mead Recreational Area will be hosting an Educational Outreach Program watch party to observe the Perseid Meteor Shower. LVAS will be supporting this event with volunteers from the club. This event runs from 9:30 to 11:30 pm and is located at Red Stone Trailhead in Lake Mead Natl. Recreation Area.

In addition to the events, the club also presents a monthly ‘Observer’s Challenge’ to people to encourage them to challenge themselves in their pursuit of observing the sky. Next month’s object is M57, the Planetary Nebula – Lyra (Ring Nebula).

Annual

LVAS also hosts several events throughout the year, including stargazing trips out to Death Valley during the fall and winter months, usually in October and February.

The club also throws their annual star party and camping trip at Cathedral Gorge around the new moon in September and April. With the event canceled last year due to COVID, the event returns this year on September 10th and 11th. To attend this event, register here.

Telescope used at previous Skye Canyon Skye and Stars event. — *‘Skye and Stars’ event.*

In addition to the annual star parties, LVAS also partners with Skye Canyon to put on the ‘Skye and Stars’ event at Skye Canyon Park. At the event, people come out to enjoy a picnic and guided stargazing tour, along with the opportunity to look through telescopes and see various objects in the night sky.

This event was also canceled in-person due to COVID last year and instead became the club’s first online stargazing event. View a recording of the event here. This past May, they returned in person for their sixth year as the club’s first event since the pandemic began.

Lastly, Caceres shared that the club hosts an annual event at the Neon Museum, usually in January. Due to the light pollution of nearby Downtown Las Vegas, this event is generally better for viewing solar system objects than deep-sky objects.

“Despite the light pollution, we can still see planets, the moon, and some nebulae,” he explained.

Become an LVAS Member

LVAS membership is open to everyone interested in astronomy to officially join the club, with no prerequisites required to join.

Dues are payable annually at the following rates:

Individual or Family Membership: $36.00
(or) LVAS Student/Faculty/Veteran Membership: $15.00
LVAS Membership with Astronomical League Membership: $44.00
(or) LVAS Student/Faculty/Veteran Membership with Astronomical League Membership: $22.00

Make membership payments on the LVAS website via PayPal or by attending a meeting and paying by check.

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LVAS Challenges

Going Virtual

Over the many years the club has existed, the last year, in particular, challenged them greatly.

Caceres explained that when the pandemic hit, the club canceled all of its in-person events, from the public stargazing sessions to the monthly meetings.

To combat this, LVAS took their events and meetings online through Zoom for over a year. In addition to their monthly meetings, they hosted virtual ‘Astronomy in the Park: @Home Edition’ webinars every month. These events were both successful and difficult.

“We were in our backyards with limited connections and lots of light pollution. Though everything is recorded, so people can watch the recording again later,” he said. “Though, many of the club’s online events didn’t get as much exposure as our live events normally do.”

Depending on the location, hundreds or even thousands of people have shown up before at a normal event.

“Some events we hosted saw over 2,000 people show up, like at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, which holds a lot of people,” he said. “That’s actually one of my favorite locations to do events. There’s lots of parking and space, and it’s very dark and away from the light of the city.”

Starting Back Up Again

LVAS’s virtual events continued until May of this year, with the 6th annual Skye Canyon ‘Skye and Stars’ event as their first event back in person. The monthly meetings continued online until July 1st when they went to the CSN Planetarium for the first time since the shutdown.

“With restrictions lifted, we’re just now getting back to normal,” Caceres said. “Quite a few of our volunteers are still a bit skittish to come out, which is completely understandable, so we’re taking it one step at a time to ensure everyone’s safety.”

To do this, LVAS still asks non-vaccinated people to wear masks during the events and not crowd together. These policies are subject to change at any time in response to changes in COVID cases, CDC guidelines, and policy or mandates set by the state.

Community

LVAS also occasionally takes action in the community to endorse or support different initiatives and causes.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the club can’t support candidates, but they can support policy and legislation related to their mission.

In the most recent legislative session, LVAS supported Senate Bill 52, the Dark Skies Initiative. This bill works to help protect our public lands and ensure we have dark skies available for the public in the future. The club also supports the Save Red Rock organization to protect Red Rock Canyon from housing development and the accompanying light pollution.

In addition to environmental efforts, LVAS also supports indigenous land rights and protecting native ancestral lands.

“We think the ‘Avi Kwa Ame’ preserve is a wonderful project,” Caceres said. Avi Kwa Ame is the name of the Spirit Mountain area in the native language of the Mojave Tribe. “We support the effort to turn it into a national monument, in the name given from the native language, at the congressional level.”

Please sign this petition to show your support for making Avi Kwa Ame a national monument and preserving ancient ancestral lands.

Robert Lambert – In Memoriam

Photo of Rob Lambert, taken at Death Valley National Park. – Photo credited to Greg McKay *(a former LVAS president and professional photographer)*.

Caceres shared that various CSN and UNLV professors worked with the club for many years. This includes the late Robert Lambert, a former astronomy professor at CSN, LVAS president for many years, and Caceres’ mentor. He sadly passed away on April 10th, 2019.

“I happened to attend the 2012 annual solar eclipse event that LVAS was at, and Robert was imaging the sun during the eclipse for us to see safely,” he said. Then, a few months later, Caceres saw the transit of Venus across the sun. This rare event happens in pairs between a couple of years of each other, every 80-90 years.

After this event, Caceres was instantly hooked. He soon became an LVAS member himself and worked directly under the guidance of Robert Lambert.

After working with Lambert over the past 6 years and learning how to organize the monthly start parties, Caceres took over for him after his passing.

Keith Caceres

Discovering LVAS

Sharing what led him to astronomy, Caceres said he’s always been interested in space and physics. He actually considered becoming a physicist but went into software development instead. It wasn’t until 2012 that he started getting actively involved in astronomy.

*Keith Caceres at the Skye Canyon ‘Skyes and Stars’ event.*

“I used to have the impression that amateur telescopes couldn’t see very much beyond our solar system. That was until I went to Cathedral Gorge to see the annular eclipse,” he said. “I didn’t know the Las Vegas Astronomical Society would be there, and I was totally blown away by everything, especially how much I could see with an amateur telescope during night-time viewing. I had no idea before joining the club.”

After that event, Caceres’ brother bought him a starter telescope for his birthday. “I started reading up on everything, got the equipment, got hooked,” he said. A couple of years later, he officially joined LVAS. He’s now been a member for over seven-and-a-half years.

“This is a hobby,” he said. “We’re all volunteers in the club and do it on the side.”

Since joining, Caceres shared that he learned a lot about stargazing in general, all the equipment involved, and how to use it. He also learned things outside of astronomy.

“I became much better at public speaking and how to organize events. I never pictured myself organizing events for 2,000 plus people,” he said. “That’s all thanks to my former mentor, Rob.”

Becoming President of LVAS

In January 2020, the club voted Caceres the LVAS president. He is largely in charge of organizing events. With the pandemic suspending in-person events, this proved to be especially challenging.

“We’re elected for two-year terms,” he said. “And unfortunately, most of mine was swallowed by the pandemic.”

Moving forward, Caceres is excited for the in-person events to start back up so the club can get back out there and continue to share the experience of stargazing with the community.

The Best Part

Caceres shared his favorite part about being a part of LVAS and about astronomy.

“I love seeing kids’ faces light up when they see Saturn or the moon for the first time with a telescope,” he said. “I once had a little girl say to me at an event, ‘I’m so happy to be here.’”

He added that having that experience helps broaden their minds about what’s up there and possibly encourage their careers.

For People New to Astronomy

Caceres shared a few pieces of advice to those interested in trying out astronomy.

“For one, we highly recommend people come out to the events and get a feel for it,” he said. There, they can also ask questions and figure out what their next step is.

In addition, Caceres said that a pair of astronomy binoculars are a great starting point too.

“A decent pair of star-gazing binoculars will cost around $100,” Caceres said. He recommends checking out the Orion Scenix 7×50 budget binoculars.

“Before spending money on a scope, you can try out our telescopes at events to figure out which models you like,” he said. “But you want to get at least a decent beginner’s telescope. A lot of sub-$200 telescopes have serious quality issues like shaky mounts or use cheap spherical mirrors that give blurry images instead of proper parabolic mirrors.”

As mentioned previously, a good beginner telescope will cost at least $200. In addition, scopes should be purchased through a company that specializes in astronomical equipment. For instance, you don’t want to buy a cheap telescope at Walmart. Those types of scopes are generally of low quality and severely limit the range of observation.

Some good brands for telescopes and binoculars include Orion and Celestron, found at telescopes.com.

Caceres also recommended the following vendors as well:

Your First Scope

He also shared a few telescopes the club recommend as a minimum for beginners:

Astronomers Without Borders OneSky 5″ Reflector Telescope – $249
- According to the website, all the proceeds from every purchase go to building astronomy-based STEM education programs and sending resources around the world.
Zhumell Z130 5″ Reflector Telescope
Orion StarBlast 4.5″ Astro Reflector
Orion StarBlast 6″ Astro Reflector

Caceres added that Orion just bought Meade Instruments this year, who filed bankruptcy after losing a lawsuit. “Meade and Celestron have traditionally been the only makers of Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes (SCTs), making them long-time competitors.”

Before you buy a really expensive telescope, make sure you’re invested in the hobby, as it can be an expensive one.

Caceres explained that there are computerized telescopes, often called “GoTo” telescopes. These have a built-in computer and motors. After an initial sky alignment procedure at the start of the night, they can find objects for you in the sky instead of you manually looking.

“You can start with a “Goto” telescope, though if you aren’t afraid of computers and technology,” he said.

While this may be tempting, these telescopes can be very costly, starting in the $400-500 range. Therefore, they should ideally be purchased after you’ve gained some experience first or if you feel comfortable setting it up.

#GetinMotion with LVAS

Ready to take a trip to the stars (that doesn’t require being a billionaire)?

Visit the LVAS website for more information, and join their Facebook group to see news, upcoming events, and astronomy discussions. There are also a lot of active astronomy photos in the Facebook group. While not presently active, you can also check out more amazing astrophotography on the LVAS’s Instagram.

Join LVAS at Valley of Fire State Park this Friday (7/23) for a full moon viewing. This event runs from 8:30 pm to 11 pm. For more information, visit the event page on Facebook. This event is free to the public, but entry to Valley of Fire costs $10 for Nevada residents and $15 for out-of-state guests per vehicle.