Community Observatory

  What can you expect to see at the Community Observatory this weekend?   Our power and water have been restored. We are back in business. We are hoping for clear nights this Friday and Saturday so that we can open and you can refresh yourself from the craziness of shopping on Black Friday by immersing yourself in the cosmos. The prediction, at this point is for partially cloudy skies. There are two factors that could cause us to close, however. Those are cloud cover over 50% and humidity over 70%. High humidity causes our scopes to become useless as the lenses and mirrors are covered by dew. High humidity can also damage our electronic components. Also, remember that our weather here may not be the same as yours “down the hill.” That is why we always urge you to check communityobservatory.com or our Facebook page after 3 PM on the day you plan to visit. If we are going to be closed, we will announce it by then.   The Moon will be at ...

  What can you expect to see at the Community Observatory this weekend? We will not be open this weekend due to a construction miscue where the power to the observatory was cut off. A solution is planned, but the weather has slowed progress. It is our hope to be open on the two days after Thanksgiving but there are no guarantees. Be sure to check our schedule on communityobservtory.com mid-week next week for our progress. We will also post updates on Facebook. In the meantime, consider joining us at the Museum of Science and Curiosity (MOSAC) between 10 AM and noon on Saturday for a chance to see the Sun through our dedicated solar scopes. MOSAC also has a planetarium where you can see a realistic looking night sky and learn about the cosmos. We will have white-light scopes there that show the sunspots and other features on the surface. We will also have H-Alpha scopes that allow you to see many more details including the prominences and flares. The image today is an H-Alpha image...

What can you expect to see at the Community Observatory this weekend? Sadly, we will be closed this weekend. A construction crew accidentally cut off our lights and water. We are unable to provide a safe environment for our visitors. The weather will also a factor this weekend. We are hoping to have a resolution by the following weekend. Did you see the Northern Lights this week? We didn’t expect much based on predictions. The aurora forecast for Tuesday night was for a good show as far south as Idaho or Oregon. What we got was one of the most impressive shows I have seen at this latitude. There are even reports showing the display in Texas and Arizona. We saw a bright red or pink display in Placerville. There was also a green section near the horizon. The images here are from our docents. The aurora was caused by a CME (Coronal Mass Ejection). A CME is a massive burst of solar plasma ejected from the Sun’s outer atmosphere. The CME sends a stream of charged particles out into space ...

  What can you expect to see at the Community Observatory this weekend?   This won’t be the greatest weekend to visit the observatory. Friday looks very cloudy with high humidity. Humidity fogs up the mirrors and lenses on our scopes. Saturday looks a bit better. Another issue is that the just-passed full Super Beaver Moon will still be very bright affecting our seeing.   The Moon appears exceptionally bright when it is at its closest point to Earth in its orbit, making it approximately 14% larger and up to 30% brighter than usual. It rises at sunset and sets at sunrise, and its proximity to the horizon creates an optical illusion that enhances its size and brightness. This position also increases the Moon’s gravitational pull on Earth, resulting in higher tides known as “king tides,” which can cause significant issues in coastal areas, especially during storms.   The two comets should still be visible but they will not be very bright. Rumors of them beco...