Finally a clear evening!

Clear skies last night allowed us to observe the following objects:

Through the 14-inch scope

• Jupiter
• M13 (globular cluster in Hercules)
• Alcor (double star in Ursa Major)
• M81 (galaxy in Ursa Major, 12 million light-years distant!)

Through the 8-inch scope

• Venus
• Castor (double star in Gemini)

Binoculars

• M44 (Beehive Cluster, an open cluster in Cancer)

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.

Summer 2015 Observatory Schedule

We have the dates pinned down for the Summer 2015 Observatory Guest Nights (yay!). Reservations can be made on the Eventbrite website.

Summer Guest Night Schedule:

Friday 1 May 2015 : 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Friday 15 May 2015 : 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Friday 5 June 2015 : 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Friday 19 June 2015 : 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Friday 17 July 2015 : 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM

ALSO, the observatory will be open for Rockville Science Day this Sunday 26 April 2015 from noon to 5 PM for solar observing (weather permitting).