Observing log for Friday 13 April 2018

We had a Moonless and mostly clear evening for our observatory night. It was a bit breezy, but the warm air felt wonderful. Spring has finally arrived!

Here's what we looked at:

• The planet Venus: Venus was too low for the the 14-inch scopes inside the observatory so we looked at our sister planet with the 8-inch scope on the deck.
• M42 (Orion Nebula) : At 1300 light-years distant, the Orion Nebula is one of the closest regions of star formation to us. Because the constellations set a little bit earlier each evening, Orion and the Orion Nebula won't be visible in the night sky too much longer.
• M35 (open cluster) : We were also able to see M35 in the constellation Gemini. Like Orion, Gemini is not visible in the night sky during the summer months, so I'm glad we were able to catch this object as well. M35 is an example of an open star cluster and is about 2800 light-years from Earth.
• M3 (globular cluster) : We also looked at the globular cluster M3. This cluster can be found in the constellation Canes Venatici (the hunting dogs), and is about 33,900 light-years from Earth. The cluster showed up as a faint fuzzy ball in the eyepiece.
• Mizar (double star) : The star Mizar is the the second star in the handle of the Big Dipper. With the naked eye you can see Alcor, a fainter star very close to Mizar. (Although with a layer of haze last night, catching Alcor was a bit of a challenge!) Mizar itself is a quadruple star system, but not one you can split without a telescope. With the 14-inch, we were able to resolve Mizar A and Mizar B- both of which have companions, but not even our scopes are big enough to see these.

Sincere thanks to Shahriar for his assistance with the event, including setting up and operating the 8-inch scope on the deck.

And of course, Thank you everyone for attending. I especially loved the seeing enthusiasm of the kids! It's such an honor to get to share the universe with you. I hope to see folks again at another event.

Observing Log for 14 April 2017

Last night we had mainly clear skies with just a bit of haze. We observed the following objects:

• Jupiter (planet) : Jupiter was at opposition on Friday 7 April 2017 and will therefore be well-placed for observing throughout the summer months. We were able to make out cloud bands on the planet and the four Galilean satellites- Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
• M42 (Orion Nebula) : At 1300 light-years distant, the Orion Nebula is one of the closest regions of star formation to us. Because the constellations set a little bit earlier each evening, Orion and the Orion Nebula won't be visible in the night sky too much longer.
• M35 (open cluster) : We were also able to see M35 in the constellation Gemini. Like Orion, Gemini is not visible in the night sky during the summer months, so I'm glad we were able to catch this object as well. M35 is an example of an open star cluster and is about 2800 light-years from Earth.
• M81 (galaxy): The last deep sky object we saw was M81 in the constellation Ursa Major. M81 is a spiral galaxy (like our own Milky Way) and is about 12 million light-years distant. Last night we saw it as a faint fuzzy through both the 8-inch and 14-inch scopes.
• Castor (α Gemini) : Castor is a multiple star system in the constellation of Gemini. Though our telescopes we could resolve two of the stars in this sextuple (six star!) system.

We also tried (and failed!) to find Comet 41P Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak. Comet 41P is currently in the constellation Draco with an apparent magnitude of 7.5. It should be visible through a small telescope, but unfortunately part of the Science Center roof blocked its location. We'll try again next time.

Thank you everyone for attending the event last night, and for your interest in the Montgomery College Observatory.

What we saw Friday night / Leo constellation info

We had a beautiful clear sky for our first observatory night of the season. Here's what we observed:

Through the 14-inch scope

• Jupiter
• Waxing gibbous Moon
• Mizar (double star in Ursa Major)

Through the 8-inch scope

• M42 (Orion Nebula)
• Waxing gibbous Moon
• Jupiter

Binoculars

• Alcor and Mizar (double star in Ursa Major)
• M44 (Beehive cluster in Cancer)
• Waxing gibbous Moon

Jupiter is currently in the constellation Leo, the Lion. The information sheet on Leo from the observatory night can be accessed here.

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 upcoming spring and summer 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.