Meetings & Events
Club Meetings
West Valley Volunteer Fire Department
2412 Farm-To-Market Road
Kalispell, MT 59901
Location: Our meetings are held at the West Valley Volunteer Fire Department located at 2412 Farm-To-Market Road, 6 miles northwest of Kalispell. The facilities offer a very nice meeting room and relatively dark skies. Our meetings are conveniently scheduled on the third Friday of each month.
Star Parties
Upcoming:
-
Friday July 25, 2025
Logan Pass Star Party #1, Glacier National Park -
Friday August 22, 2025
Logan Pass Star Party #2, Glacier National Park
We typically sponsor several public star parties each year. Undeniably, these events are the highlight of our summer observing season.
Lone Pine State Park: In conjunction with the Montana Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks, we host an annual public star party at Lone Pine State Park in Kalispell. In response to the many wonderful comments he received about our event, former Governor Schweitzer sent our club members a personal thank-you for our participation. This year's event has not been scheduled yet. Please check back for further updates.
Glacier National Park: The Big Sky Astronomy Club has partnered with Glacier National Park to promote and support their ongoing daily Summer Astronomy Program for the park's visitors. Club members assist the Park's Visiting Astronomers by providing additional telescopes and personnel for both daytime and nighttime viewing. The daily programs are held at the Apgar and St. Mary Visitors' Centers. Check the park's website for dates and times.
Special Events
Our club provides public presentations during special astronomical events. These have included Lunar and Solar eclipses, bright auroral displays, periodic meteor showers, the appearance of bright comets in the night sky as well as the recent (and relatively rare) transits of Mercury and Venus across the face of the sun. At these special events, club members set up their scopes and allow visitors to view, first hand, these awesome celestial occurances. Special events such as these are publicized in advance and are held at various locations around the valley.