Community Observatory

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...

  What can you expect to see at the Community Observatory this weekend? With the full Moon falling on Saturday Night and some cloud cover predicted, this may not be the best weekend for your first trip to the Community Observatory. White light is the enemy of good nighttime seeing. Even a short glimpse of white light can suppress your night vision for twenty minutes. That is why we try to limit the light at the observatory to red or green. The one brilliant white light that we can’t control is the Moon. The number of stars that can be seen on a full moon night is a fraction of the ones you can see when there is no moon. Nevertheless, there will still be things to see. Both Saturn and Neptune will be visible in our scopes. Neptune is a dim blueish speck in even our biggest scopes. We often joke that we could pick almost any star and tell the public that it is Neptune. We don’t do that, however. We try to center the blue dot in our scope and make it easy for you to find. It isn...

  What can you expect to see at the Community Observatory this weekend? Join us on Saturday night for our public 20 th Anniversary Celebration AND the “International Observe the Moon Night.” There will be fun and informative activities for everyone. We expect to have clear skies and a beautiful waxing moon for both Friday and Saturday night. The inspiration for the Community Observatory came in 2005 when Rotary International celebrated its 100th anniversary. Each local chapter was challenged to do something awesome for their community. The Cameron Park Rotary Club came up with an auspicious goal, to build an observatory that would be free and open to the public. To make the story short, they did a great job of gathering funds, resources, and volunteer labor. We opened to the public in 2006. We have continually grown and expanded our reach. Come join us to see how far we have come. There will be prizes and gifts! Did you know that we are a part of NASA’s Night Sky Network? T...