Come share the stars with friends, family, and fellow astronomy enthusiasts!
The GM Astronomy Club is excited to host a special Beginner’s Night & Open Observation on Friday, April 10th at the GM Proving Grounds ball fields (GM Softball Fields location: East of Pleasant Valley Rd and South off Commerce Rd)
This evening is designed for everyone:
New telescope owner? If you recently purchased a telescope but aren’t quite sure how to set it up or use it effectively, this night is for you. Very few clubs offer dedicated support for personal scopes — and we’re proud to provide that opportunity. Bring your telescope and we’ll help you get comfortable using it.
Experienced observer? Join us for a great night under the stars, help newer members get started, and enjoy views through club and personal scopes alike.
Families welcome! Bring the kids and invite friends — no telescope required.
PLEASE NOTE: In the event of clouds a cancellation confirmation will be sent out at least 24 hours before start time. Please see the link below for Etiquette, Parking instructions and further information. We can’t wait to see you!
Parking is the GM Softball Fields, East of Pleasant Valley Rd and South off Commerce Rd.
SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Brown Dwarfs: Bridging the Gap Between Stars and Planets
A fascinating presentation on brown dwarf stars, by Jennifer Greco, PhD. Candidate from the University of Toledo Department of Physics and Astronomy. Jennifer will take us on a tour of her research and interesting fun facts about low mass stars throughout our galaxy.
Permanent link to this article: https://gmastronomy.com/cloudy-nights-workshop/
The General Motors Astronomy Club hosts monthly events that are FREE and open to the public, including:
Open Observing Night – monthly meeting at the Milford Proving Ground Softball Fields
Sidewalk Astronomy – in the summer, GMAC sets up their telescopes on the sidewalk in downtownMilford, where passersby can see Jupiter Saturn, or the Moon, or their way to and from the concert in the park.
Special Events – Observatory tours, camping trips, etc.
Don’t miss out… Sign up for our mailing list today!
As 2018 draws to a close, I want to take this opportunity to thank our members and supporters for a great year and look forward toward 2019. Our club has grown to more than 50 members this year and we enjoyed many successful events together, including public observing nights, sidewalk astronomy, a meteorite hunt, and a chili cookoff. Feedback from our survey in September was very positive, so I think we heading in the right direction, but if you have any suggestions or feedback please email me and help us make GMAC the best it can be!
2019 Memberships Available Now!
If you are not a member of the General Motors Astronomy Club, we would like to remind you that most of our events are FREE and open too the public and you do not need to be a GM employee to attend our events (or join the club)! However, if you enjoy astronomy and live in southeast Michigan, we would encourage you to click here to learn more:
It only costs $20 to join and the membership benefits extend to your entire household. The General Motors Astronomy Club (GMAC) is a non-profit organization of people dedicated to sharing the night sky with others and furthering public interest in astronomy and STEM education.
Upcoming Events
Exciting news, we have one final event planned this year!
Night At Longway Planetarium Sunday, December 16th Planetarium Show: 5-6pm $6 for adults, $4 for seniors and children ages 2-11 Public Observing: 6pm to 11pm, weather depending Let Longway Planetarium’s astronomy experts take you on a tour of the night sky over Michigan in this live planetarium lecture. Learn about the rotation of the Earth, how to find the North Star, which constellations and planets are visible in your backyard tonight. Stargazers can come back to this show again and again to find out about recent astronomical events and for seasonal updates on what’s visible in the night sky over Michigan. Recommended for ages 8 and older. Buy tickets for the planetarium show now at http://sloanlongway.org/skies-over-michigan/
Stay tuned for details on a lunar eclipse party on the night of January 20th… You can always check our Club Calendar for the latest information on upcoming events.
Chili Cookoff Results
In closing, we would also to congratulate Tony Licata as the winner of our 2018 Chili Cookoff, he was very excited to accept the trophy, as you can see in the pictures below.
Tony’s venison chili was a crowd favorite this year 🙂
Nicknamed the “Goodall Cup”, the Chili Cookoff trophy was handmade by Jim and Moriah Goodall for the event.
Tony Licata hoists the trophy as the winner of the 2018 Chili Cookoff!
Club Merchandise
We still have plenty of T-shirts, hoodies and hats available. Take a moment to visit our Online Store and show your support or maybe find a Christmas present for the astronomy enthusiast in your life. Even club memberships can make great Christmas gifts, feel free to contact me for details.
Note for online purchases: We just transferred our website to a new server, so “gmastronomy.com” email addresses are temporarily unavailable. Don’t worry if you don’t receive a confirmation message right away, we have a record of your transactions and we will contact you or you are welcome to email me at any time through my email address below. Don’t Miss Anything!
You can always find the latest club information here on our website, but we are also active on social media, especially Facebook and Twitter:
Thanks to everyone who came to this year’s Astronomy At The Beach event on Friday and Saturday, there were more than 4000 people in attendance! We had a great time sharing the night sky and met a ton of new people interested in our club. Even if you didn’t attend, please take a moment to fill out this survey.
Your feedback is critical to the success of future events:
We will announce the winner of the Floating Constellation Globe in a live Facebook broadcast on Thursday Evening at 8:00 PM (September 20). There were multiple people who picked the correct number, so we decided to have a drawing and give away some extra prizes! But even if you didn’t pick the right answer, you still have an opportunity to win a prize, because we are going to host a member drawing as well on Thursday night! So, get your GMAC membership TODAY to be entered in the drawing. All club members will be eligible, and you are not required to join the live broadcast to win.
Follow these steps to win club merchandise, night sky guides, and more!
1)Visit our Facebook Page and click Like so you will be notified of the Facebook Live TOMORROW at 8 PM.
2)Purchase a Club Membership before NOON Tomorrow and your name will be entered into the member drawing tomorrow night!
Note that you do NOT need to be a member to attend our monthly observing night and it is FREE and open to the public.
Thank you for your support and we hope to see you in the live Facebook broadcast on TOMORROW at 8:00 PM!
Permanent link to this article: https://gmastronomy.com/live-prize-drawing-tomorrow-at-8pm/
Last updated: June 29, 2026. If you find this helpful and buy through my links, I may receive a small commission. The Askar SQA130 is the largest telescope in Askar’s SQA (super quintuplet astrograph) series, and one I was especially excited to test. As a refractor fan, getting to test one with a healthy 130mm... […]
Recently, I captured the same deep-sky object using three very different camera systems. A full-frame mirrorless DSLR-style astrophotography setup. A dedicated astronomy camera rig with autoguiding. And a smart telescope that handled almost everything on its own. The target was the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula, a beautiful emission nebula in the constellation Cepheus. Each setup collected... […]
The ToupTek StellaVita is a control box that can run an entire astrophotography setup from your phone or tablet. It supports a wide range of cameras and accessories, so you’re not locked into a single ecosystem, and that alone makes it one of the more interesting alternatives to systems like the ASIAIR. After... […]
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