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The Tri-Valley Stargazers Astronomy Club, Livermore CA, welcomes you. There is a lot of information here on the many activities of our club. Learn why you should join the club to get the most out of your amateur astronomy hobby in the east San Francisco Bay Area. And for more information, visit our discussion group at groups.io.

The Tri-Valley Stargazers Privacy Policy is available here.
Please read the latest about our Health rules:

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Board elections are coming up

We will soon be electing new members for the board. Please nominate candidates to replace old members who will be retiring this year.

Next Public Meeting


Friday May 19, 2023

NASA's New Horizons Mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt

Dr. Will Grundy

Meeting starts at 7:30 p.m.

This will be a hybrid meeting. Location details below.

Unitarian Universalist Church
1893 N. Vasco Rd., Livermore

Summer Barbecue saturn grill
Friday, June 17, 2022
Set up at 6:30 p.m.
Dinner starts at 7:00 p.m.

Unitarian Universalist Church
1893 N. Vasco Rd., Livermore

Winter Solstice Potluck Dinner saturn garland
Friday, December 16, 2022
Set up at 6:30 p.m.
Dinner starts at 7:00 p.m.

Unitarian Universalist Church
1893 N. Vasco Rd., Livermore

Outing to Del Valle
Friday, July 19th at 7:30 p.m.
Details below.

Next Board Meeting


Monday, May 22, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

Board meetings are usually held using video conferencing. Members are always welcome at board meetings.
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The Latest News & Upcoming Events


Barcroft High Altitude Star Party


Reservations for the Eastbay Astronomical Society’s Barcroft High-Altitude Star Party are now open to members of the EAS, the Tri-Valley Stargazer’s, and the Mount Diablo Astronomical Society clubs. This year’s event will be held from Sunday August 13th through noon on Saturday August 19th (with departure by noon on Saturday). That’s six nights.

Before sending payments for reservations ($90 per night, per person), even if you’ve been there before, please contact Don Saito FIRST (barcroft@eastbayastro.org) to ensure the dates you wish to attend are available. You will also be asked to read the Barcroft Writeup, as it provides the information you’ll need to have a safe, comfortable stay, and what is expected of guests to this University of California research facility.

Please visit: East Bay Astronomical Society - Barcroft High Altitude Star Party

May 2023 Member Meeting Presentation



This meeting will be live at the Unitarian church and will also be available using the video conference utility Zoom. The meeting link will be emailed to members. For non-members if you would like to join the meeting, please send an email to asking for the meeting link and telling us a bit about your areas of interest in astronomy.

NASA's New Horizons Mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt
Dr. Will Grundy

With its 2015 flyby and first up-close look at a new class of small icy planet, the New Horizons mission ushered in a new era of planetary geology for the Pluto system. A second flyby of the small Kuiper belt object Arrokoth at the start of 2019 did the same for the much smaller planetesimals at the edge of the solar system, leftovers from the era of planet formation. This talk will introduce the spacecraft, instruments, and mission profile and describe some of the scientific highlights.

Dr. Grundy is a tenured planetary scientist at Lowell Observatory, in Flagstaff Arizona and a co-investigator on NASA's New Horizons mission. He studies icy, outer Solar System objects using a variety of experimental techniques, including space- and ground-based imaging and spectroscopy, as well as laboratory studies of low temperature materials. His undergraduate degree was in physics from Yale University (1988) and his Ph.D. was in planetary sciences from the University of Arizona (1995).

Upcoming star parties

The following star parties are coming soon:
For a complete and up-to-date calendar of upcoming events, visit our groups.io calendar.

Please contact for further information.

June's meeting

Our June meeting will be our annual Summer BBQ. Plan on working up an appetite by helping to set-up and get the charcoal going at about 6:30pm. We will start eating around 7:00pm.

The club will provide hamburgers, hotdogs and vegetarian black bean burgers, along with a variety of toppings. If you wish, provide side dishes for your family, but not to be shared with members because of COVID.


December's meeting

This month is our Holiday dinner. We'll be opening the doors at 6:30 to set up the tables and chairs, and then the feast will begin at 7:00 PM. TVS will provide the drinks and paper/plasticware. In addition we will provide the main course for this month's holiday celebration, possibly turkey and/or tri-tip. Members are asked to bring a dish to share, and of course bring family and friends to share in the festivities. Based on the first letter of your last name members are asked to bring a dish to share:

H2O Open House

Our next open house is scheduled for Saturday, May 13th at the club's dark sky site, Hidden Hill Observatory, aka H2O.

Anyone can come to our open houses, not just club members; but you cannot go there without an escort. We will meet at the corner of Mines and Tesla Roads at 6:00 PM, then caravan to the site on a drive that takes about 50 minutes. The admission is $3/car; please bring the exact amount. There is no gas on the way, so be sure to gas up before leaving. The site is essentially in the wilderness, so there is no electricity and water, and there are only a couple of pit toilets. Cell-phone reception is iffy at best. While there is a picnic table there, you really should bring your own chair. If you need to see what you are doing, bring a red LED flashlight, not a white-light flashlight. And use masking tape over your car door and interior lights, or pull the fuse. If you don't have a scope, you can always find someone who is willing to let you look through theirs. And don't forget to bring your binoculars. Expect to stay until about midnight and get back to Livermore at around 1:00 AM.

Member star parties at Tesla Vineyard

  • 4/22
  • 6/10
  • 10/7

    • Tesla Vintner star parties are generally open to club members and their guests. The star parties will run from 6:00 PM until midnight. Tesla Vintners is in Livermore near the intersection of Tesla and Mines. For those new to the site, please use the unmarked west entrance (closest to Mines) to enter the winery grounds.



    We continue to rebuild the Hidden Hill Observatory

    Our latest change is to add a shed for storing tools and portable telescopes. Click on this image to see more pictures of our progress:

    Shed

    TVS Crystal Wine Glasses For Sale

    wine glass TVS is offering elegant crystal wine glasses for sale to club members. You don't have to drink wine to enjoy the beautiful TVS logo-etched stemware. Use them for your favorite beverage, or they can be used as a beautiful container for small plants. They are the perfect gifts for loved ones or friends. Look for them at club meetings, where they will be sold for $10/each. Don't drink alone, buy two! Support TVS. Thanks to who got these wonderful glasses.

    TVS Logo Wear

    You may have seen some TVS members wearing shirts, caps and jackets embroidered with the TVS logo. If you are interested in obtaining an embroidered logo item, you can do so by ordering whatever you would like through Land's End's Corporate Sales section and specifying TVS logo #0118948. You will need to set up an account, which will ask for the logo number and the TVS customer number (3452021). Before you order a cap, you might want to check with Roland, who has ordered several to get a discount price.

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