Community Observatory

  What can you expect to see this weekend at the Community Observatory? This could be an excellent weekend to visit the observatory. The weather forecast for both Friday and Saturday is favorable and the crescent moon should not be bright enough to disturb our deep sky viewing. We are looking at a 15% illuminated moon for Friday and about 25% for Saturday. Venus continues to be the only evening planet visible now. Since it is catching up with Earth in its orbit, it will be passing roughly between us and the Sun in the next weeks. The side of Venus facing the Sun will be illuminated and we will see the planet going through phases like the Moon does.   It looks like a tiny gibbous moon right now but it is waning and will become a crescent that grows thinner each day. We often share views of celestial objects that are visually stunning. There will be plenty of those visible this weekend as the Summer Milky Way with its bright nebulae and star clusters are overhead. But we...

  What can you expect to see this weekend at the Community Observatory? Its Summer! It is a great time to look at the night sky. This seasons features a rich Milky Way and some amazing nebulae. Combine that with moonless nights, and warm weather and you have a great weekend to visit the Community Observatory. We also have a Solar Saturday scheduled. We call Summer “Milky Way Season” because the Sagittarius Arm of our galaxy is overhead and the center of our galaxy is directly to the South. Some of our favorite nebulae grace our skies. Prepare to be dazzled as we show you live images of the Lagoon, Trifid, Omega, Eagle, Veil, Crescent, and North American Nebula. Our image today is of the Omega Nebula which is also known as the Swan Nebula or Messier 17. It was taken Monday night by docent Randy right here in Placerville. It is a star forming region about 5000 to 6000 light years away. We are still in our summer planetary drought with only Venus gracing the evening sky. Since...

As we celebrate the Fourth of July with dazzling fireworks, remember that the universe has its own spectacular light shows! From colorful nebulae to exploding stars called supernovae, the cosmos has been putting on fireworks displays for billions of years. We will be open both Friday, July 3rd & Saturday, July 4th from 9pm-11pm (weather permitting) to honor the stars, stripes & starlight!  We know that a lot of you will be celebrating on July 4th with your families & many of our docents will be doing the same thing, but we will still be open with a minimal staff Saturday evening. The moon won’t be rising until after we close which will provide us with incredible dark skies both evenings. Venus is still prominent in the night sky & will be available to view, but Mercury & Jupiter are now quite low on the horizon.  This Fourth of July, let's celebrate with some stellar science! Did you know stars come in different colors? A star's color tells astronomers a lo...

  What Can You See At The Community Observatory This Weekend Placerville, California 9:00–11:00 PM — Friday, June 27 and Saturday, June 28, 2026 If skies cooperate, the last weekend of June should offer a very nice mix of bright summer showpieces and a Moon that grows noticeably fuller from one night to the next. Both nights should be comfortable for public observing, with mostly clear to sunny conditions during the day leading into clear evening skies. The Moon will become a bigger factor as the weekend goes on. On Friday, June 27 , it will already be quite bright and may begin to wash out some of the fainter Milky Way detail later in the session. By Saturday, June 28 , it will be very near full and will dominate more of the evening sky, making that night especially good for lunar observing rather than hunting faint nebulae and galaxies. That said, the Moon itself should be a beautiful telescopic target, with dramatic contrast along the terminator. Current forecasts su...

    What can you expect to see this weekend at the Community Observatory? The thin crescent moon doesn’t rise until early morning, the weather is great with 0% clouds, and the humidity is low. It should be a good weekend to visit the Community Observatory. The Sun is setting around 8:30 PM so it is dark enough by our 9 PM opening to start seeing things with our telescopes. The highlight of the early glomming is a very impressive conjunction of Jupiter and Venus. Those two objects are the brightest objects behind the Moon in the night sky. A conjunction means that they appear to be quite close to each other. They aren’t actually close but they appear to be since they appear along the same line of site from our point-of-view. The closest approach was on Tuesday of this week when they were only 1.5° apart. Another treat for those of you arriving around 9 PM I that you can see Mercury. Very few people have seen Mercury. It is elusive because its close orbit around the ...

    What can you expect to see this weekend at the Community Observatory? This could be a great opportunity to see the night sky at the Community Observatory. Clear skies with less than 20% cloud cover and a last-quarter moon that doesn’t rise until after midnight portend great viewing. We also have clear skies predicted for our Solar Viewing on Saturday morning. Jupiter and Venus are putting on a show in the western sky, It is called a “conjunction” when two heavenly bodies are close to each other in the sky. June 9th features the two planets appearing at their closest, within about 1.5 degrees. Even though they appear to be close, they just fall within the same line of sight. Venus is about 100 million miles away while Jupiter is six times further. Early arrivers may also be able to see the elusive Mercury. The image today is an “orrery” (pronounced aw·rr·ee) which is a image version of a mechanical model of the Solar System. The planets to the left of the Sun are vi...