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The History of

the Society

On August 25, 1931, a short ad appeared in a Seattle newspaper inviting the public to the organization meeting of the new Seattle Astronomical Society. According to the ad, interest for such a group had been raised after a series of star lectures were given by Seattle resident and UW librarian, William Gifford Hale. The club's second meeting, led by Hale as newly elected president, took place five days later and featured a talk titled "How to Know Your Stars."

By September 8, the society was holding weekly meetings as well as planing to conduct a monthly study of the sky to map the stars and track their positions relative to each other and Earth.

While there is little documentation of the club's early activities, it appears that they continued to hold regular meetings. On Tuesday, November 26, 1935 it was advertised that Hale was to give a talk at that evening's SAS meeting titled "Life Dawns on Earth" about the origins of life.

The next public mention of the society is in April 1942 when Hale announces that "the Seattle Astronomical Society will widen its educational program to include the study of birds, beasts and flowers."

William Hale led the amateur astronomers of Seattle until he passed away in 1950. He's now recognized as the grandfather of the Seattle Astronomical Society.

The club must have gone dormant for a few years after Hale's passing, as the next mention isn't until February 3, 1952 when it's printed in the paper that Forrest Ritscher and Norman Dalke were making efforts to establish a Seattle branch of the Astronomical League. In December 1952, Dalke was elected President and they held their first meeting.

In early July of 1955, the newly formed Seattle Amateur Astronomical Society (it is unclear when "amateur" was removed from the club's title) hosted the national convention of the Astronomical League. There was a welcoming tea on opening day and a "Silver Stars" themed evening banquet. The event was organized by Dalke and Mrs. Wayne Mosby (pictured left) as well as the wife of Andrew P. Patten, society member and eventual chairman of the SAS board.

 
In July of 1963, it was announced that a large SAS construction project was nearing completion. A new observatory, equipped with a 12.5-inch Newtonian telescope, was being built on land donated by society member Andrew Patten near Beaver Lake in Issaquah. It was an ambitious project that included a dome, meeting room, electronic seismograph and multiple telescopes. The building and telescope mount alone took nearly 10 years to complete, according to the Issaquah Press.

A "deep earthquake" jolted the Puget Sound area in 1965 and was recorded on the observatory's seismograph for four minutes. And in 1968 it was reported that the observatory was a frequent place of learning and stargazing for the Seattle Astronomical Society's Junior section.

It's currently unclear as to the status of the Patten Observatory and the 12.5-inch Newtonian telescope it once housed.

Nearly a century ago, William Gifford Hale brought together the amateur astronomers of Seattle for the common purpose of astronomy. Today, the society consists of over 400 members across the greater Seattle area who meet frequently to share their love of the night sky with each other and the public.

The August Night Sky


 See what our celestial neighbors are up to this month 

August 12 — Perseids Meteor Shower
The Perseids meteor shower will be on display in the early morning hours of August 12. At its peak, you can expect to see up to 150 meteors per hour. The Perseids Meteor Shower is caused when the Earth passes through a stream of debris left by the Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. The Perseids will appear to radiate from a central point in the sky within the constellation Perseus, but meteors will be visible across the sky. The Moon will be very bright and nearly full this night, so it’s best to plan your meteor viewing earlier in the night before the Moon fully rises.
(Image credit: Matt Payne | Getty Images)

August 27 — New Moon
On this night, the moon will be on the same side of Earth as the Sun and therefore will not be visible. Take advantage of the darker sky to try and spot these objects:

Messier 24: Sagittarius Star Cloud
M24 is a large Milky Way star cloud that consists of the densest concentration of individual stars that can be observed with binoculars. Located near the galactic center in Sagittarius, it's approximately 600 light years wide and offers observers the chance to capture around 1,000 stars within a single field-of-view.
(Image credit: Roberto Colombari)

Messier 8: Lagoon Nebula
The Lagoon Nebula is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius and is classified as an emission nebula. It is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the eye from mid-northern latitudes, made even more spectacular with binoculars or a telescope.
(Image credit: Miguel Claro)