The Vermont Astronomical Society (VAS) is a group of amateur astronomers that has been serving northern Vermont for 42 years. Our membership ranges from beginning naked-eye stargazers to advanced amateurs with home observatories and elaborate equipment.

The VAS was founded in 1964 by a small group of Chittenden County residents utilizing temporary observing sites and portable equipment. Today, the VAS is an organized and enthusiastic group of amateur astronomers dedicated to promoting amateur astronomy in Vermont, improving public awareness of astronomy, and serving as an educational resource for Vermonters of all ages. The VAS sponsors both club observing programs and public events. Individual VAS members are involved with a variety of exciting special programs. Some club members make their own telescope optics and build homemade telescopes. Others produce excellent high quality images of planetary and deep sky objects with CCD and video cameras. Still others search for new astronomical objects using visual and electronic techniques.

Monthly meetings are held in the Community Room at Brownell Library, Essex Jct. (Rt 2A, 2nd building on left north of Essex 5 corners), 7:30 pm on the first Monday of each month. If the first Monday is a holiday, the meeting will occur on the following Monday.