Founding
The Astronomical Society of Greenbelt (ASG)—originally known as the Greenbelt Astronomy Club—was founded in 1992 by Doug Love and George Gliba, both of whom were members of the Goddard Astronomy Club. Due to NASA security restrictions, that club’s members were required to be affiliated with the Goddard Space Flight Center. Since the Goddard club received inquiries from people with no connection to Goddard who wanted to join, Mr. Love and Mr. Gliba decided to start a separate club without membership restrictions.
The new club was started on December 30, 1992, with a meeting that took place in the Greenbelt Branch of the Prince George’s County library system. Shortly thereafter, meetings moved to the H.B. Owens Science Center, part of the Prince George’s County school system. Russ Waugh, a founding member of the new club and the planetarium director of the Owens Science Center, was instrumental in securing the use of that facility. Meetings were held there for more than twenty years. Lynne Gilliland, another founding member, greatly helped with a variety of administrative tasks. In 2005, the club changed its name to the Astronomical Society of Greenbelt to better reflect its public mission.
Our Ongoing Work
From its conception, the society has held monthly meetings that are open to the public and often including a lecture given by an authority in some area of astronomy. Other ASG members have carried on with the operation, maintenance, and improvement of the observatory. In late 2013, an astronomical camera (a MallinCan Xtreme) was mounted on the telescope, allowing visitors to see very faint deep-sky objects in wondrous detail. The Goddard Space Flight Center also donated a computer-controlled fork mount to replace the original mount, making it much easier to point the telescope at desired observing targets.
Starting in March 2020, all of our meetings were held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Star parties too were Zoom events, with ASG members sharing screens showing what they are able to see from their own backyard telescope setups. We returned to in-person meetings in the summer of 2022, but all meetings are still broadcast on Zoom to allow people to attend from home if they are not comfortable attending in person.
Improvements to the observatory are continuing, and we began having in-person star parties again. We have recently added plate solving, planetary stacking, and other upgrades to the telescope, all geared to enhance the astronomical observing experience of residents of Greenbelt for years to come.
In February 2023, the ASG began participation in the International Astronomical Search Collaboration to help in the effort to detect near-earth objects.