Von Braun Astronomical Society
VBAS is a non-profit volunteer organization of amateur and professional astronomers. In addition to operating their planetarium and observatories located in Monte Sano State Park just East of Huntsville, Alabama, they also conduct side walk astronomy events in conjunction with several local community events such as Concerts In The Park and we’re working to establish a remote dark sky observatory near Huntsville. VBAS was originally founded in 1954 as the Rocket City Astronomical Association, thanks to the efforts of a group of high school students interested in Astronomy lead by Sam Pruitt, along with the help and influence of Wernher von Braun.
By 1956, the organization had grown to include several members of the Von Braun Missile Team and they completed the observatory shown on the left while under construction and shown below on the right of how their facilities appear today, which includes a second observatory, astronomical library, solar telescope, and planetarium. Use the “Library”, “Observatories”, and “Planetarium” tabs above to explore our facilities. VBAS’s operates the Conrad Swanson Observatory, built in 1956, which houses our 21 inch telescope on the left below and the Wilhelm Angele Observatory, built in the early 1980s, which houses our Celestron C-16 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope on the right which features a roll-off roof that gives a wide view of the sky for our Star Party visitors.
For more information, please visit http://www.vbas.org