Since it's early beginnings in 1935, as the Kansas City Telescope Makers, the Astronomical Society of Kansas City has become a premier club within the Astronomical League. Boasting around 300 or more members, the main mission of the club is to promote astronomy within the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area and surrounding cities. This is accomplished through weekly programs at Powell Observatory, as well as "on-site" star parties held at schools, scouting centers, libraries and other civic groups.

Our monthly meetings include high quality guest speakers, who are experts in their field. Held on the beautiful campus of the University of Missouri at Kansas City, we have state of the art audio visual equipment to meet the needs of any of our speakers. Whether it be John Dobson, someone from JPL, a NASA astronaut, or one of our own local professional astronomers, the meetings are always entertaining as well as educational.

The leadership qualities within the Society are well known throughout the League. A few of our "notables", are people like: Kathy Machin, longtime past observing awards chairperson; Scott Kranz, current observing awards chairperson; Vic and Jen Winter, former Astronomical League Reflector Magazine editors; Carroll Iorg, Vice-President of the Astronomical League; Jackie Beucher, past League Treasurer and past Executive Secretary; Walt Robinson, vice-president of the International Occultation Timing Association; Tom Martinez, past editor of the Reflector Magazine; Gary Pittman, past League Secretary; and the list goes on.

The Astronomical Society of Kansas City, has been directed by the League, the task of establishing international offices within the Kansas City Area. From here, all administrative operations will function for the League. Through ASKC member Jackie Beucher, who is the League Executive Secretary, the office opened Spring of 2004. ASKC member Mitch Glaze is the office manager. The offices are located at 9201 Ward Parkway, Kansas City, MO

We are proud to have many active observers. We hold some 250 observing certificates issued by the Astronomical League. These certificates are issued based on observing skills that are developed within the various observing programs, and a list of required objects to find in the night sky. Whether your interests are planetary, lunar, deepsky, or solar, we will help hone your observing skills to make your observations more meaningful.

In early 2001, the club applied for and obtained a NASA grant for observing Near Earth Objects (commonly known as NEO's). Since obtaining that grant, Kyle Smalley, Richard Fredrick and Dick Trentman has placed Powell Observatory as the second most productive observatory in the world for followups on these objects. Anyone who wants to participate in this endeavor, will get the necessary training to make their own observations.

The Astronomical Society of Kansas City is surely a club which has an excellent mix of promoting astronomy, providing leadership, encouraging observing the night sky and providing for it's members. The club is open to anyone interested in astronomy and we look forward to seeing you soon!