Joining the TAA website is a great way to keep in touch and informed of all ongoings of the club. As a subscriber you will receive all e-mail announcements and be able to comment on posts written by club members. You will also be able to register for public events. If you ever decide to become a full member upgrading your account is easy and you can keep your existing username.
Welcome!
Welcome to the official website of the Tulare Astronomical Association. The TAA provides astronomy education and appreciation of the night sky to the public. We serve the citizens of Tulare County. We hold monthly observing sessions in conjunction with the Tulare County Office of Education at the Peña Planetarium in Visalia. Attendees get to see a planetarium show and then go outside to observe first-hand the wonders of the night sky. We also hold public star parties for the Sequoia Riverlands Trust at the Dry Creek Preserve. We hope that you will join us in our astronomical journeys.
Friday Night at Pena Planetarium
For those not -in the know-, TAA provides free public viewing opportunites. Friday night is one of them. This is a great time to see several planets. Neptune, (if the sky gets dark enough, early enough), Uranus, Venus, and Jupiter. The moon will also be about 1/3 lit, which makes for some great viewing It [...]
Horsehead Nebula 1-13-12
Friday night, while observing in the Mojave Desert, I decided to try again to find the Horsehead Nebula. This time I had my 13.1 inch Dob. The sky was very clear with very little wind. After much trial and error, I was able to make out the Horsehead. I used my 17mm Nagler (88X magnification) with [...]
Desert Observing 1-13-12
Last Friday night in the Mojave Desert was great. The sky was clear and transparent. There was a very slight breeze and the temperature was about 42 deg. Saturday morning the clouds came it and stayed all day. Saturday night there was a big hole in the clouds over our head and the sky looked pretty good but [...]
San Simeon December 2011
I set up my Nexstar 11 early in the evening to let it get acclimated. The evening was warm, for December (about 50 deg.) The stars were twinkling franticly. There was no moisture in the air and no dew. The air felt like a spring evening. About 9:00pm Butch and I began our observing session. [...]
