Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh

rdf:langString Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh

rdf:langString The Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh (AAAP) is an Astronomical Organization founded on June 9, 1929, by Chester B. Roe and Leo J. Scanlon. Since then, it has grown to over 500 members and operates two observatories in the Pittsburgh region: the Nicholas E. Wagman Observatory and the Mingo Creek Park Observatory. The club also sponsors many star parties that are open to members of the public throughout the year. The club's motto is "We have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night," from the Sarah Williams poem "The Old Astronomer to his Pupil". The Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh, Inc. (AAAP) has promoted popular astronomy in western Pennsylvania for 75 years. With over 500 members, it is one of the larger astronomy clubs in the nation. At monthly meetings, upcoming celestial events such as meteor showers, comets, occultations, and rare planetary alignments are announced. Observations and techniques are shared so that all members may benefit from the experiences. Each meeting also features a special speaker, sometimes an AAAP member, as well as outside experts from various fields. Past speakers have presented topics including meteorite hunting in Antarctica, cosmological modeling using supercomputers, and astrophotography with exotic equipment such as dry-ice cameras.