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

August is turning out to be an interesting month for our observatory. We had am event at the observatory last night and the sky was very impacted from the fires in Calaveras County. Even though it was a moonless night, we were probably limited to first and second magnitude stars at times. We can normally see magnitude 6.5. We are hoping for an extinguished fire and clearer skies by this weekend. The weather looks good and there will be no interference from the Moon.

We had two very bright meteors that streaked across the sky while we were in the Sky Theater last night. While the peak of the Perseid Meteor shower is next Wednesday, August 12th, some meteors can be seen several weeks before and after that date. That portends great things for Wednesday August 12th. The meteors should peak around midnight and we will be open from 10 PM until 1 AM that night. We expect a large crowd so bring lawn chairs or a blanket to sit on.

August 12th is also the next total solar eclipse. Unfortunately, it won’t be visible here. The path of totality will stretch from the Arctic, over Greenland and Iceland, and end in the Mediterranean after passing over Spain. Since most of us won’t be there, the next best place to see it will be online at https://www.nasa.gov/live. You will want to tune in around 10:30 AM. Remember, total solar eclipses are rare and awesome.

You may also want to mark your calendar for Thursday, August 27th. There will be a 96% total lunar eclipse that day. The Observatory will be open from 8-10 PM but frankly you can see it well from any reasonably dark location.

The Summer Milky Way is overhead this time of year and many of our favorite targets are available. These include the Lagoon, Trifid, Omega, and Eagle Nebulae. Even the Milky Way by itself is impressive. The image today represents an area about the  size of a pea held at arms length. It is one I took with my home telescope and it shows how densely the stars are packed in the area around the Cygnus constellation. Each of those stars is a solar system, potentially with planets around it.

So, what about this weekend? No moon, no clouds and, perhaps, smoke. Be sure to check our calendar on communityobservatory.com after 3 PM on the day you plan to come. We have had to close because of the smoke in the past and, on this weekend, it is a possibility.

 

 

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