Yellowstone Valley Astronomy Association

02/12/2026

Don’t forget our lecture this weekend, February 14 at 3 PM at the library! It’s gonna be a good one! See previous posts or go to our website at yvaamt.com for more details

Established in 2003 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization

01/14/2026

Mr. Dean Regas reached out to our club. He was the longtime astronomer at the Cincinnati Observatory and the cohost of PBS' Stargazers. For the past several years He has been offering online classes and making them available to astronomy groups around the country for free. He has a free lecture series, with a lecture today! Click the link below to watch tonight at 7 pm.

The Winter Sky and 2026 Sky Highlights Wednesday January 14, 2026 07:00 PM Eastern Time Learn how to identify the stars, constellations, planets (and a few challenging objects) of the season with astronomer, author, and former host of PBS' Star Gazers, Dean Regas. Great for beginners to experts. Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83219059782?pwd=hKwhzHgsb3916gaSD4UaPuVpRArMa8.1 Passcode:055185

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01/13/2026

Shane Larson will be here in Billings to provide a lecture about his work with Gravitational waves on 02/14/26 at the Billings Public Library.

A Tapestry of Gravity: LISA and the Future of Gravitational Wave Astronomy
Shane L. Larson
Clarkson University

Virtually everything we know about the Universe has been discovered from the study of photons --- light in all its myriad forms from radio waves, to visible light, to x-rays and beyond. At the dawn of the 21st century, advanced technology is providing access to the Cosmos through detection of ripples in the fabric of spacetime itself -- gravitational waves.

These ripples in spacetime, called gravitational waves, carry information not in the form of light or particles, but in the form of gravity itself. Gravitational waves are messengers which carry the stories of what happens when two black holes collide at the centers of galaxies, of how the compact stars fall into monstrous black holes, and of how the graveyard of the galaxy is filled with the quiet whisper of binary white dwarf stars that spiral together ever so slowly as they fade into oblivion.

This talk will explore the modern description of gravity, what gravitational waves are and how we hope to measure them, and what we hope to learn from their detection. We'll focus on the forthcoming space gravitational wave observatory, LISA, being launched in the early 2030s by ESA and NASA. LISA observations will unveil the stories of what happens when two black holes collide at the centers of galaxies, of how the compact stars fall into monstrous black holes, and of how the graveyard of the galaxy is filled with the quiet whisper of binary white dwarf stars that spiral together ever so slowly as they fade into oblivion. Gravity has a story to tell, and in this talk, we'll explore some of discoveries we hope to make.

12/13/2025

3pm- 4:30pm
1306 Central Ave, Billings
This meeting will be at the Connect Office at 1306 Central Ave in Billings. We will be holding Elections and Paul Bevacqua will be discussing his work with Satellites. A brief history, Design and operations and finally what to do with an old one. His work was focused around communications with active satellites. The meeting is at 3:00pm. Anyone interested in getting more involved with the club is invited to join in on the elections. This is open to the public as well.

11/12/2025

View from Lewistown, Montana! Everybody look to the north!

11/11/2025

Keep your eyes up!

G4 (Severe) Watch in Effect for 12 November published: Tuesday, November 11, 2025 17:21 UTC Geomagnetic Storm Watches in Effect, to include G4 (Severe) potential for 12 November. The current list of Watches include: 11 Nov G2 (Moderate); 12 Nov G4 (Severe); and 13 Nov G3 (Strong). These Watches are....

11/07/2025

November 8th @ 3 PM at the Billings Library,
We will have JPL Scientist Varoujan Gorjian speaking on "Black Holes Don't Suck!" Varoujan has been at JPL since 1998. He has been involved with the Spitzer Project and Herschel Project. His area of study is of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), Infrared and Radio imaging of young star forming regions and determining the Cosmic Infrared Background (CIRB) in the near infrared. This will be fantastic!

09/09/2025

We will be holding a James Web Space Telescope Movie Watch Party on Sept 13th at 1:30pm at the Billings Public Library Community Room. This should be a fantastic Movie and a good time to meet people from the club! Hope to see you there.

08/20/2025

Join us Saturday Aug 23rd at Pictograph Caves State Park for public star party and viewing!!

06/22/2025

Due to weather, we will not have the star party tonight. See you next time.

06/21/2025

Public star party tonight at pictograph Cave State Park. Come at sundown! The weather is calling for thunderstorms so we may get rained out. If it’s raining, you can assume that it’s canceled.