Meetings & Events

Club Meetings

We meet on the third Friday of each month at 7 PM.
April's meeting will be on Friday the 17th. See you there!

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. On clear nights following our meetings, club members will set up their scopes in the large parking area at the fire hall and, as a group, do some observing following the meeting. Visitors to our meetings are welcome to stay following the meeting an join our club members for some casual stargazing.

Star Parties

Upcoming:

Whitefish Legacy Partners - Our first public star party of the season will take place on Wednesday Wednesday April 22nd. We are partnering with Whitefish Legacy Partners to host a stargazing event at the Holbrook overlook on the Big Mountain Road. Observing will begin around 9:30 PM.

Creston School District - School & Community Astronomy Event - The club will be hosting an afternoon - evening astronomy event at the Creston School on Friday April 24. The first portion, from 1 PM to 3 PM will be for the students at Creston School. We will be featuring four "activity stations" for the students to learn about Gravity, our Solar System, how to make a "Constellation Viewer" and what a comet is and how to build a cometary model. The afternoon - evening portion of the event will be open to the Creston community and will feature food trucks, socializing and astronomy related programs. After sunset, club members will have telescopes set up for the community members to view the night sky.

Glacier Institue - Our first public star party with the folks at the Glacier Instute is scheduled for Tuesday May 5th. Stargazing will take place at the Institute's campus at 7450 U.S. Highway 2, in Columbia Heights. Observing will begin around 9:30 PM.

Logan Pass Star Parties - Glacier National Park - The dates for this summer's Logan Pass Star Parties in Glacier National Park have not been confirmed, but the tentative dates are July 17, August 12 and September 11 (all of these are Fridays). Please check back - the dates should be confirmed soon.

Flathead State Park Star Parties - The dates for this summer's Star Parties at the Lone Pine, Big Arm and Wayfarers State Parks have not been confirmed yet. Please check back - the dates will be confirmed soon.

Special Events

Earth Day at FVCC - The club will be participating in the Earth Day event to be held at Flathead Valley Community College on Saturday April 18th. We will have an exhibition table with information about light pollution and our efforts to preserve the darkness of our night sky here in the Flathead Valley. We will also be construction stomp rockets with our younger visitors.

Columbia Falls Farmers Market - The Big Sky Astronomy Club will be the featured local non-profit organization at the Columbia Falls Farmers Market on Thursday June 18th. We will have an exhibition table with information about light pollution and our efforts to preserve the darkness of our night sky here in the Flathead Valley. We will also have solar telescopes set up for our visitors to safely view the Sun and any sunspots and prominences that may be visible. The CF Farmers Market runs from 5PM to 8 PM.

Join the Club

Join our local astronomy club to enjoy friendly meet ups, shared stargazing sessions, and community events right here in our neighborhood.

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The Big Sky Astronomy Club is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit corporation, registered with both the State of Montana and the I.R.S. Donations to the Big Sky Astronomy Club are 100% tax deductible and your support will be very much appreciated. The club's EIN is 20-2801232.

Club Members: You can also use the "Donate" button below to go to PayPal and pay your dues.

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