A clear evening for this past observatory night

It's been awhile, but we had clear skies this past Friday. We observed the following objects:

Through the 14-inch scope

• Albireo (double star in Cygnus)
• M13 (Hercules globular cluster)
• M57 (planetary nebula in Lyra)
• M31 (Andromeda Galaxy)

Through the 8-inch scope

• Saturn
• Waxing crescent Moon

Binoculars

• Waxing crescent Moon
• Brocchi's Cluster
• Antares (taking note of the twinkling from atmospheric turbulence)

Many thanks to Kim and Ryan for operating the 8-inch telescope and binoculars, respectively, and thanks also to the MC Stargazer club members. These events would not be possible without the time and talent of Montgomery College students.

The next two events are full, but we've added a wait list to the Eventbrite ticket reservations. If you are on the wait list, you will be notified by email if a slot opens up.

The MC Stargazer's club is planning to do some daytime solar observing events on the Rockville campus this coming October. I will post information when we have the details.

September / October 2015 Starmap

The latest starmap is here: MCAO September / October Starmap.

There are several notable celestial happenings this September and October, including a total lunar eclipse (27 September), the Orionids meteor shower (21/22 October), and a lovely grouping of Venus, Mars, and Jupiter (early morning 28 October).

The figure above is a screenshot from Stellarium showing the conjunction of Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. The conjunction will be visible from Rockville before sunrise on 28 October.