Community Observatory

We have a big weekend coming up at the Community Observatory. We switch to our winter hours this Friday. We will be meeting from 7:30-9:30 for the winter season. It is also feeling a bit like winter with cold clear nights. Bring your coat. We will be looking at the Sun during the Sherwood Demonstration Garden's "Fall into Gardening Event" this Saturday. Here is a description of the event: "The El Dorado County Master Gardeners will host their fall event again this year on Saturday, October 4, 2025 at the Sherwood Demonstration Garden (SDG) in Placerville. This year the event will be a triple celebration event (15 years since groundbreaking of the SDG; 10 years since the opening day of the SDG and 5 years of the Fall Into Gardening Event. The SDG will be open with the 16 theme gardens staffed by volunteers. There will be kids activities, classes, guest booths/tables from community organizations and UCCE programs." It is scheduled from 9 AM until 2 PM. We wi...

  What can you expect to see at the Community Observatory this weekend? (September 26-27, 2025) This should be an excellent weekend under the stars! The crescent Moon will be about 20% illuminated on Friday and almost 30% on Saturday. It will set around 9 PM on Friday and just before 10 pm on Saturday. The weather is likely to be clear. This is our last weekend on our Summer schedule of 9:00-11:00 PM. We return to our 7:30-9:30 PM Winter schedule next weekend. The Autumn sky is rotating into view. The Summer triangle is moving to the west. The Milky Way is directly overhead as it is getting dark. It was magnificent during the New Moon last weekend and should still be visible after moonset this weekend. The Great Square of Pegasus is the asterism that will dominate the sky this time of year. The Andromeda Galaxy is to the Northeast of Pegasus. My view of it through a small telescope 50 years ago ignited my love for astronomy. The Pegasus Globular Cluster is known as M15 and it’s ...