Community Observatory

  What can you expect to see at the Community Observatory this Month? Note: We are making a change to our weekly blogs. We will put out a more comprehensive description of what can be seen in the sky at the beginning of each month. We will follow that with a shorter post each week that will discuss the weather, the Moon, and anything special that will occur that week. This will be the first of our monthly blogs. El Nino may seriously impact our schedule this winter. Clear night skies may be quite rare for us. This weekend may very well be the exception with only a few clouds predicted. This is also the weekend closest to the new moon and, since this will be our first weekend after the drop back to standard time and the Sun is setting just before 5 PM, it will be very dark by our opening at 7:30. This could be a great time for those of you who want to get to bed at a reasonable time to visit. Meteor Showers There are three minor meteor showers this month. It is likely that none of t...

             A Halloween Weekend Under the Stars at the Placerville Community Observatory                              Friday and Saturday, October 30–31, 2026 | 7:30–9:30 PM Figure 1 NGC 6960 Veil Nebula, a.k.a. The Witches Broom IMPORTANT UPDATE -  Due to predicted cloud cover & the potential for rain, the Community Observatory will be closed both Friday and Saturday, October 30-31. (We are sad, we had costumes & Milky Way candy ready for you!) Enjoy your Halloween!      Looking for something a little different to do this Halloween weekend? Join us at the Placerville Community Observatory for an evening of exploring the night sky! Whether you're an experienced stargazer or just curious about what lies beyond our planet, our telescopes offer a closer l...

There’s a lot to look forward to in the night sky this weekend, including a nearly full Moon, two fascinating planets, and the return of a very popular star cluster! The full moon arrives on Sunday, October 25! This month’s full moon is known as the “Hunter Moon”.    Its name dates back to a time when fields had been cleared after the harvest, making it easier for hunters to spot game that had fattened up in preparation for the long winter ahead. On Friday and Saturday, the Moon will be approximately 95–98% illuminated. While its brightness will make some of the faintest deep-sky objects more difficult to see, it will also provide some spectacular views of the lunar surface through our telescopes! Saturn & it’s amazing rings will be available to view all evening. Saturn’s rings are made up of countless pieces of ice, rock, and dust, ranging from tiny grains to chunks as large as houses. Did you know that Saturn’s moon count recently increased to 298?! Neptune will also be ...

Wanted: More Visitors to our smart telescopes ! S hown: ZWO  Seestar  S 50 on tripod and  Seestar  S30  Pro on table. Perhaps you have seen me or one of my cousins out of the corner of your eye as you scurry to join the queue to get a peek through one of our large telescopes . We are small and  unobtrusive, but  can surprise you with the wonders we can show.  So  give us a chance and stop by where you see the glowing smartphones or tablets and see what deep space wonder or closeup of the Moon the docent is showing at the time.  And you may also see it in color, unlike the white or gray you see in the big telescopes. Over the past few years these Smart Scopes or CAA (Computer Aided Astronomy) devices have had explosive growth and popularity, bringing simple astrophotography to anyone who is interested, not just for the high-tech geeks. They are very affordable compared to the bigger imaging rigs, too. Unlike normal telescopes you don’t lo...

  What can you expect to see at the Community Observatory this weekend? This is the New Moon weekend, the darkest skies of the month. The Moon is between us and the Sun on Saturday. It rises as the Sun rises and sets at sundown. Only its unlit side will face us during the day. Combine that with potentially clear skies and we could have a great weekend. There are a number of notable events happening in the sky this month. There are two minor meteor showers. The Draconid Meteor Shower peaks on Thursday night and Friday morning. Contrary to what you may read on social media, it most likely will produce only five to ten meteors per hour from a very dark site. The Orionid shower occurs on October 21 st and 22 nd . It could produce up to 20 per hour but the almost full moon on that date will likely reduce that to a handful. One exciting thing this month is that the “W” shaped Cassiopea is overhead. Its environs include the Andromeda Galaxy, the Double Cluster, and the Pegasus Gl...

  What can you expect to see at the Community Observatory this weekend? The big news is that we have switched to our Winter Schedule of 7:30-9:30PM on Friday and Saturday nights. With the Sun setting just at 6:24 PM it will be dark by our 7:30 opening. The Sun will continue to rise later and set earlier until the Winter Solstice on December 21 st when the Sun will rise at 7:17 AM and set at 4:45 PM. That gives us a day length of about nine and a half hours compared to almost fifteen hours on the June 21 st Solstice. The Moon isn’t going to be an issue since it doesn’t rise until after we close. With a potentially clear sky and benign weather it should be a great weekend for viewing the sky. Bring your kids and they won’t be up late. This will be a good weekend for observing the heavenly bodies in our own Solar System. Saturday morning features a solar viewing from 10 AM until Noon. We will be in front of the Sherwood Demonstration Garden on the path to the observatory. Venu...