Community Observatory

  What can you expect to see at the Community Observatory this weekend? We saw the stars last night for the first time in two weeks. While it was foggy below, our higher elevation had clear skies. We are hoping that excellent views will continue for the next two weekends. Be sure to check our website ( communityobservatory.com ) to make sure we will be open before you head up the hill. There are some exciting things to see in the sky right now. Jupiter with its four prominent moons is finally visible. Saturn continues to be awesome. The Taurus constellation with the Pleiades star cluster is easily visible and Orion with its best-in-class nebulas will be visible later during this weekend’s public viewing sessions. The big excitement this weekend is the meteor shower that peaks on Saturday night and Sunday Morning, The Geminid Meteor Shower is often the best one of the year. It can produce more than two meteors per minute under ideal conditions. Ideal conditions include a very dark...

What can you expect to see at the Community Observatory this weekend? We have been disappointed with the quality of the sky lately. We have been having fog and high humidity. This is in spite of the weather predicting “mostly clear” nights. The forecast for Friday and Saturday is, once again, for “mostly clear” skies. We are most likely to open but you should always check communityobservatory.com after 3 PM to make sure we won’t be closed. There is a special full moon on Thursday. The appropriately named “Cold Moon” will be a super moon. That means that the closest point in its orbit, its “perigee,” occurs during the full moon. Since it is closer, it will appear to be bigger and brighter than normal. It also occurs at “lunar standstill.” This is a bit more complex to explain. The Moon’s orbit is tilted 5 degrees compared to the ecliptic, the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Combine this with the Earth’s 23.5 degree tilt and the Moon can be substantially higher or lower in...