What can you expect to see at the Community Observatory this weekend?

This could be a great weekend to visit the Community Observatory. The new moon was Wednesday and it will not interfere with our seeing all weekend. The forecast is for some clouds on both Friday and Saturday night but, unless that changes for the worse, we will be open both nights.

Friday will be a regular public viewing, but Saturday will be special. We will be conducting our annual “Messier Marathon” from sundown to sunup on Sunday morning. There will be a large crew of us attempting to take images of 109 of the 110 deep-sky objects on Charles Messier’s list of deep sky objects. We will also have visual telescopes for you to look through during our regular 9 until 11 PM viewing session. It may be a bit crazy because the marathon and the regular public viewing will be happening at the same time. Our visitors, of course, are welcome to circulate with the ones participating in the marathon. It can be exciting because some of the objects are difficult and skill and a bit of luck may be needed to image them. We ring a bell after each successful acquisition. If you are interested, please look at the Messier Marathon website for this year’s event. Our image today is of the Messier List.

Venus has joined Saturn in the evening sky. Sadly, its position near the horizon means that it will be a fuzzy white dot in our telescopes. Still, Venus is the third brightest object in the heavens behind the Sun and the Moon. It is an impressive diamond in the sky. Jupiter is directly overhead and continues to put on a show with its four bright moons and the bands of clouds on its surface.

There are some great deep sky objects to view this time of the year.  Orion is quickly moving towards the west. We will be able to enjoy its beautiful nebulae and bright stars for about six more weeks. Spring is galaxy season and the plethora of great galaxies will be among the objects we will be imaging in the Messier Marathon. We will be displaying those images on a big screen on the tarmac.

The Spring Equinox occurs on Friday morning at 7:45 AM. Several interesting things happen during the equinoxes:

·       The Sun is directly over the equator and it is visible by everyone on Earth.

·       The Sun rises exactly in the East and sets exactly in the West all over the world. You could calibrate your compass with it.

·       The Sun is above and below the horizon for nearly 12 hours all over the world.

·       The pace of change for the length of the day is at its greatest. We gain or lose two to three minutes of daylight every day near each equinox.

Be sure to check communityobservatory.com before you head up the hill. We call weather closures no later than 3 PM so, if you check it after 3 and we haven’t announced a closure, come on up. Even though we have had some warm days, our nights can be cold.  Bring a jacket. Be prepared to pay $2 to the college for parking.

 

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