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.

Spring 2016 observatory event schedule is live!

We have dates for the Spring 2016 Observatory Guest Nights (yay!). Reservations can be made on the Eventbrite website.

Friday 15 April 2016 : 9 - 10 PM

Friday 6 May 2016 : 9 - 10 PM
Friday 20 May 2016 : 9 - 10 PM

Friday 3 June 2016 : 9 - 10 PM
Friday 17 June 2016 : 9 - 10 PM

Friday 1 July 2016 : 9 - 10 PM
Friday 15 July 2016 : 9 - 10 PM

Upcoming events, guest night recap, and some links

Yesterday evening was our last official observatory guest night of the season, but there are a couple of other upcoming events that we'll be participating in:

This coming Monday 19 October, we'll be hosting a satellite event for the 2015 White House Astronomy Night 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.

On Saturday 14 November we will be bringing a couple of our telescopes to the Croydon Creek Nature Center for a star party. To register, go to events (menu on the right-hand side of the screen), and then scroll through the dates until you get to 14 November.

Here is a recap of what we observed last night:

Through the 14-inch scope

• Albireo (double star in Cygnus)
• M57 (planetary nebula in Lyra)
• M31 (Andromeda Galaxy)
• NCG 6826 (The "blinking planetary" in Cygnus)

Through the 8-inch scope

• Waxing crescent Moon
• M13 (Hercules globular cluster)
• Epsilon Lyrae (a multiple star system in Lyra)

Last night I recommended several astronomical links to different folks. First, here's the link to 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.