During monthly meetings, upcoming celestial events such as meteor showers, comets, occultations, and planetary alignments are announced, and observations and techniques are shared so that all members may benefit from the experiences.
Past speakers have presented topics including meteorite hunting in Antarctica, cosmological modeling using supercomputers, and astrophotography with exotic equipment such as dry-ice cameras.
At 1340 feet elevation, it is one of the highest points in Allegheny County, and one of the few such sites not already occupied by a radio mast, microwave relay tower, or water tank.
The mission of the Mingo Creek Park Observatory is to educate and make freely available to a diverse public of all ages, programs on astronomy and the preservation of dark skies.
Visitors attending a star party can see a short basic planetarium program on the night sky, and step directly outside and look up (or through a telescope) to see what was just shown to them inside.
The Greene County Site is not affected as much by light pollution, and is located on a privately-owned cow pasture where AAAP members are permitted to use portable telescopes and equipment for astronomical observations.