Observatory Nights for Fall 2022

Finally! Observatory nights will be back in October. I will add additional events this fall as I am able. :)

Observatory nights for Fall 2022 are below. In the meantime, a star chart for September/October is here :).

Friday 7 October 2022 (8 - 9 PM)
Friday 21 October 2022 (8 - 9 PM)

Friday 4 November 2022 (7 - 8 PM)
Friday 18 November 2022 (7 - 8 PM)

Events are free, but because of occupancy limitations on the roof, we require guests to make reservations via Eventbrite.

Reservations can be made here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/astronomical-observatory-nights-fall-2022-tickets-419172856297.

---

Events will be cancelled for bad weather. I will make the call as soon as I am able, usually about 2 hours prior to the event start time. An announcement will be sent to the email address you registered with Eventbrite and I will post the status on this website.

---

About the Guest Nights:

During Observatory Guest Nights we use Montgomery College telescopes to view and learn about visible solar system objects, star clusters, and nebulae. We also spend some time looking at the sky with just our eyes in order to locate constellations and planets that can be seen this time of the year.

You'll leave with a star chart and the ability to find celestial objects on your own.
Astronomy faculty will be on hand to answer questions about the universe.

Some things to note:

• Dress for the weather. The observatory is located outside on the roof of the Science Center.
• We meet in Science Center room 406 (SC406). We go up to the roof as a group. If you're late, there will be a staff member or student in SC406 to escort you upstairs.
• Children are welcome (and encouraged!) to attend, although campus policy prohibits children younger than five years of age on the roof.
• Parking is free.

I want to continue to improve the observatory nights. If you have suggestions or comments, please let me know.

June/July 2021 Starmap and Reminder of ANS Presentation

Just stopping by with a reminder that I will be giving a presentation for the Audubon Naturalist Society tonight! Registration is $12 for members of the ANS and $15 for non-members. Registration link is here.

Hunting for Treasures in the Summer Night Sky
Presentation for Audobon Naturalist Society
Wednesday 2 June 2021 7 - 8 pm

And a link to a current starmap is here.

Observatory Status - Update

I'm posting to let you know that due to the COVID-19 situation:

All in-person events at Montgomery College are suspended until further notice, including all upcoming observatory nights.

This breaks my heart, but it's what needs to happen. We'll get back to gathering together under the stars once it's safe to do so.

In the meantime, I am working to schedule live public online astronomy lectures to take the place of the observatory nights, with time for you to participate and ask questions. (Hopefully I'll have some answers!) If there are any astronomy topics you would like me to present, please let me know. You can fill out the "Contact Form" on the bottom of the page, or send me an email. Once I get the technology and topics sorted, I will post dates and details right here.

I also have an April/May 2020 Star Map for you here: MCAO April/May Starmap.

I create these maps using the wonderful http://www.heavens-above.com/ website and Stellarium software. (Stellarium is a free planetarium software program. If you'd like to know what's up in the sky, I highly recommend it.)

Observing log for Friday 4-Oct-2019 (and Oct/Nov star map)

Oh my goodness, last night made it the sixth clear observatory night in a row! The stars sparkled and the cool air made us feel like fall had finally arrived. The observing log still hasn't shifted much over the past few weeks, but what we looked at is listed below.

If you want to explore the sky on your own, here is a link to the October/November star map.

• Waxing crescent Moon : We looked at the nearly first quarter Moon through the 8-inch scope. It seemed like lots of folks got some nice photos of our satellite companion (thanks, Viga!).
• Jupiter : Once again, heat coming off the roof made the image a little fuzzy, but we were able to make out cloud bands on the planet and three of the four Galilean satellites- Io, Ganymede, and Callisto. This time Europa was behind Jupiter and not visible while we were watching.
• Saturn : Saturn looked lovely and we were easily able to make out the moons Titan and Rhea. Dione and Tethys were fainter, but also visible.
• M57 (the Ring Nebula): After Saturn, we went to the Ring Nebula. I've described this lovely planetary nebula in earlier posts. Last night I was asked how long the nebula has been expanding. According to NASA, the star at the center of the Ring Nebula ran out of its nuclear fuel about 4,000 years ago. The nebula will continue to expand for another 10,000 years, after which time the material will be returned to our galaxy to create new stars and planets.
• M31 (Andromeda Galaxy): The last thing we looked at was the Andromeda Galaxy. This object is a neighboring galaxy located about 2.5 million light-years from us. It's a spiral galaxy like our own Milky Way, but it's larger. M31 is about 220,000 light-years across compared to the Milky Way's 100,000 light-year diameter. Through the telescope M31 looked like a small fuzzy ball with a star-like center. The bright center is the core of M31 and the fuzziness is the light from the hundreds of billions of stars that make up the galaxy.

Sincere thanks to Iadviga. The events would not be possible without her skillful collaboration.

And as always, thank you to everyone who attended. Your kind words about the observatory nights mean more to me than I can express.

Save the date(s) for events in August!

Thanks to everyone for your patience as I work out the observatory night schedule for the summer and fall months. We will host events in August (as well as in September and October, I promise!). Events in August will be held on Friday 2-Aug-2019, 16-Aug-2019, and 30-Aug-2019, starting around 9 pm. I will open up reservations on Eventbrite as soon as I get the go-ahead from the college.

In the meantime, you can click here to access a handy star chart and calendar of celestial events for July and August.

Also, I am super excited to be speaking at this event for the Smithsonian:

Astronomy 101: An Amateur's Guide
Saturday, July 27, 2019 - 10 am to 3 pm

I'll be giving the first talk- "The Basics: How To Read the Sky". There will also be talks on telescopes and astrophotography. More information can be found here.

Finally, I've been working on a couple of astronomy / observatory projects that I am eager to share. I'll be posting here again soon!

Wishing you clear skies and exceptional seeing,
-Carrie

Thank you for a stellar Fall 2017 semester!

Thanks to everyone for visiting the observatory this semester (or trying to- I know the weather wasn't always cooperative!). It's a privilege and a joy for me to get to share the observatory and my love of astronomy with you.

We're shutting down for the winter break, but new events will be scheduled once the Spring 2018 semester begins. I will post the dates here.

For now, here is a link to the November/December starmap.

And here is a link to my handout on finding direction using Ursa Major (Big Dipper) or Cassiopeia.

Again, thank you for your interest in our observatory. I hope to see you next semester.

June / July Starmap

The starmap for June and July is here: MCAO June / July Starmap.

I create these maps using the wonderful http://www.heavens-above.com/ website and Stellarium software. (Stellarium is a free planetarium software program. If you'd like to know what's up in the sky, I highly recommend it!)

August / September Starmap

Last night I had a couple of requests for an electronic version of the August / September starmap. You can find it here: MCAO August / September Starmap.

And here is the handout on Getting Oriented in the Night Sky.

We were able to see the following before the sky clouded up:

• Saturn: The ringed planet will be easy to find in the in the southwest until mid September.
• Mars: Mars was at opposition on 22 May 2016, making it very well-placed for observing this summer.
• Albireo: Albireo is a double star system in Cygnus. The two stars (one blue, one gold) can't be resolved with the naked eye, but through our telescopes we are able to see the pair.
• International Space Station: We watched the ISS pass overhead just before 10 PM. Heavens Above has timetables and maps for ISS visible passes.

More information about all of the planets can be found on NASA's Solar System Exploration page.

Last night I recommended the planetarium software package Stellarium. Stellarium is free and operates on Windows, Mac, and Linux. I've used it on all three platforms without issue. There is a mobile version ($2.49, last time I checked) as well.

I also use the website Heavens Above for astronomical and satellite data.

Finally, the US Naval Observatory's Data Services page is a fantastic resource and one I use frequently.

April / May Starmap

The latest starmap is here: MCAO April/ May Starmap.

Of particular interest in May is a rare transit of Mercury across the Sun the morning of Monday 9 May 2016. Earthsky.org has lots of good information about the event here.

October / November 2015 Starmap

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

November brings us the Leonids Meteor Shower. The shower peaks between 17 and 18 November and is best observed during the wee hours of the morning. It will likely be quite chilly, therefore I suggest making a thermos of hot chocolate as part of your meteor shower watching plans.

Our last observatory guest night of the season is this Friday 16 October, but if you can't get enough of us, next week we'll be hosting a satellite event for the 2015 White House Astronomy Night. On Monday 19 October we'll have a star party at the Montgomery College Planetarium on the Takoma Park / Silver Spring campus. Details are here. Dr. Harold Williams and I will be there with students from MC's Engineering and Science Adventure Club and the MC Stargazers. I hope to see you.

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.

May / June 2015 Starmap

The latest starmap is here: MCAO May / June Starmap.

And here is a link to the presentation I gave at May 1 observatory night. (It was about lunar phases.)

Quick pic of Saturn (9 May 2015) with Canon EOS mounted to 14-inch.

October / November 2014 Starmap

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

The next observatory guest night is this Friday 10 October from 8-9 PM. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. There are still a few open spots open for both the 10 October and 24 October events.

Reserve here: mcobservatory.eventbrite.com.

September / October 2014 Starmap

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

Just a reminder, there is no observatory night tonight (Friday 5 September). The next event on Friday 12 September is completely booked, but there are open spots for the 26 September, 10 October, and 24 October nights.

Reserve here: mcobservatory.eventbrite.com.

July / August 2014 Starmap

The latest starmap is here: MCAO July / August Starmap.

The weather has been a bit disappointing for the past few observatory guest nights, but I'm feeling optimistic for Friday. Accuweather.com is saying conditions will be "good" for stargazing.

I would love for a clear night. There's so much celestial goodness to see this month and next that I could barely fit everything on the latest starmap.

The starmap itself is from the heavens-above website, as are the dates for planetary oppositions, elongations, and conjunctions. The additional sky and planet information is obtained from Stellarium. (I simply set the location to Rockville and look at the sky throughout the relevant months with an eye towards interesting groupings of the Moon and planets.) The meteor shower dates are obtained from EarthSky.

May / June 2014 Starmap

I realized today that I had not posted the link to the May / June Starmap. Here it is:

MCAO May / June Starmap

The starmap itself is from the heavens-above website, as are the dates for planetary oppositions and elongations. The additional sky and planet information is obtained from Stellarium. (I simply set the location to Rockville and look at the sky throughout the relevant months with an eye towards interesting groupings of the Moon and planets.) The meteor shower dates are obtained from EarthSky.

I hope you enjoy!

April / May 2014 Starmap

A few people have asked me for the starmaps we hand out on the observatory guest nights. I just put together the latest one for April and May 2014. So here you go:

MCAO April / May Starmap


The starmap itself is from the heavens-above website, as are the dates for planetary oppositions and elongations. The additional sky and planet information is obtained from Stellarium. (I simply set the location to Rockville and look at the sky throughout the relevant months with an eye towards interesting groupings of the Moon and planets.) The meteor shower dates are obtained from EarthSky.

I hope you enjoy!