Things we do
Next meeting of the Central Pennsylvania Observers, Thursday May 7, 2026
Astronomy and the Development of GPS
Plus the 2nd Annual Club Equipment Swap/Sale
Meeting starting at 7:00 pm
Equipment swap starting at 6:30 & continuing after the meeting
We have a special treat for our May meeting. Our own club member Lee Hammarstrom helped with the original development of GPS – the satellite based Global Positioning System that is such a big part of modern life. At the May CPO meeting Lee will share some of his experiences and tell us about essential connections between astronomy and GPS.
Before and after the main meeting, we will have our 2nd Annual Club Equipment Swap/Sale. Here’s the info about it:
Do you have astronomical equipment that you no longer use? Bring it to the CPO Equipment Swap to help it find a new home, while you gain a few bucks.
Need to find your first telescope or your next one, or the right component to improve your setup? Come check out the gently used equipment at good prices at the CPO Equipment Swap.
If you have items to sell, come set them up at 6:15. For each item, write a brief description and name a price for it.
Transactions will be between buyer and seller, and we leave it to them to work out whether by cash, check, or a service like Venmo or PayPal. There won’t be any facility for credit cards.
There will be pizza before the meeting!
We hold star observation events throughout the summer at the Penn State Arboretum. Here is the 2026 schedule:
May 2 9:00-11:00
July 11 9:30-11:30
August 1 9:00-11:00
October 3 8:00-10:00
Monthly Astronomy Meetings
Our meetings are open to the public. They are held (typically) on the first Thursday of each month at the South Hills Business School, 480 Waupelani Dr, State College, PA 16801 from 7-9PM.
Skywatches
Want to see what’s up in the night sky? Come and join CPO’s free night time public viewing events. We call them Skywatches, and they’re held at city parks around the State College area. You’ll be able to view celestial objects through telescopes provided by our volunteer members! We’ll tour the night sky and point out special features that will be different every month. Note that we can only hold the events when the sky is clear enough to use the telescopes, so if it is cloudy or raining we will have to cancel the session. All ages welcome, but children should be present only with a parent or guardian
Black Forest Star Party
The Black Forest Star Party (BFSP) is an annual dark-sky amateur astronomy observing event hosted by the Central Pennsylvania Observers (CPO).