What can you expect to see at the Community Observatory this weekend?
We are hoping to be open for the first time in 2026 on Friday and Saturday. The forecast is for a “mostly clear sky” on Friday and for “a few clouds” on Saturday. If that holds, we will be open from 7:30 until 9:30 on both nights. That could change so be sure to check here or on communityobservatory.com after 3 PM on the day you plan to visit to make sure that we will be open.
So, what is in the sky? The Winter sky is in its full splendor. The stars of winter include many of the brightest stars. The Orion constellation has the giant red star, Betelgeuse, and the intrinsically bright blue giant, Rigel. Orion’s belt is three bright blue giant stars. Their distance makes them appear to be second magnitude but, if they were the same distance as Rigel and Betelgeuse, they would be very impressive. Orion is also home for the Orion and Horsehead Nebulae. The Orion Nebula is one of only a few deep sky objects visible to the naked eye but it is truly magnificent in a telescope. The image today is that nebula taken from our East Scope, the Electronically Assisted Astronomy scope that displays its live image on a big screen. Other galaxies and nebulae are also visible in the Winter sky.
There are great views of Jupiter and Saturn right now. We also have unimpressive views of Uranus and Neptune. Jupiter is at “opposition,” meaning that it is opposite the Sun in the sky. It rises in the east as the Sun sets, is at the zenith at midnight, and sets in the west at sunrise. This alignment makes the planet brightest, closest, and visible all night. You will be able to see the four Galilean Moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. These are the moons that Galileo saw on January 7th of 1610 when he first used a primitive telescope to view the sky. • The existence of moons orbiting Jupiter contradicted the Ptolemaic belief that everything revolved around Earth. These moons followed the pattern of motion that agreed with the “heliocentric” model proposed by Copernicus.
Let me introduce you to an important term. “Syzygy” is a great Scrabble word. It is defined as three objects that are positioned in a straight line. This is what is happening with Jupiter, Earth, and the Sun right now. It also occurs twice each month with the full and new moon. A lunar eclipse can only occur at the full moon when the lineup is Moon, Earth, and Sun. Solar eclipses can occur when there is a syzygy where the Moon in between Earth and the Sun*. Eclipses don’t occur every month because the plane Moon’s orbit is tilted at about 5° to the plane of the Earth’s orbit. BTW, the three stars in Orion’s belt are also in an apparent syzygy from our point of view.
The next lunar eclipse occurs during the early morning hours of March 3rd. Totality begins at 3:04 AM and ends at 4:02 AM. Total Lunar eclipses are often called “Blood Moons” because the only light reaching the Moon is the light refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere. As you know, light from the Sun is very red near dawn and dusk as blue light is filtered out by passing through many miles of the atmosphere. The red hue of the Moon during the eclipse is because the only light reaching it is refracted through the atmosphere around the edges of the Earth. Your best bet for viewing it will probably be to wake up early on that Tuesday morning and seeing it near the western horizon.
Keep your fingers crossed for clear skies and bring warm clothes- The temperature may be as low as 39° F.
* BTW the joke is that when there is a syzygy where the Sun is BETWEEN the Earth and Moon, you have an “apocalypse.”
Comments
Post a Comment