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.

Event dates for August and September

August and September dates for Observatory Guest Nights are below. (Note we've added Thursday evenings!)

Friday 5 August 2016 : 9 - 10 PM
Thursday 11 August 2016 : 9 - 10 PM
Friday 19 August 2016 : 9 - 10 PM
Thursday 25 August 2016 : 9 - 10 PM

Friday 2 September 2016 : 8 - 9 PM
Thursday 8 September 2016 : 8 - 9 PM
Friday 16 September 2016 : 8 - 9 PM
Thursday 22 September 2016 : 8 - 9 PM

Because of occupancy limitations on the roof, we require guests to make reservations via Eventbrite (http://mcobservatory-fall2016.eventbrite.com).

New for August and September:

Events will be cancelled for bad weather. I will make the call at least 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.

Observing log for 1 July 2016

The thunderstorms cleared out before 9 PM. We had a few clouds, but also some clear sky, particularly by the end of the evening.

Here is a recap of what we observed last night:

• Jupiter and the Galilean satellites (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) : As mentioned, NASA's Juno Mission arrives Jupiter on Monday 4 July.
• Mars: Mars was at opposition on 22 May 2016, making it very well-placed for observing this summer.
• Saturn: The ringed planet will be visible until mid-September. On 24 August, look to see Saturn near in sky to both Mars and the beautiful red supergiant star, Antares.
• M13, (the Hercules cluster): M13 is an example of a globular cluster and is about 25,000 light-years from Earth.
• M57 (the Ring Nebula): M57 is an example of planetary nebula and is about 2,000 light-years from Earth.

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.

Thank you everyone for attending, and for your interest in the Montgomery College Observatory! Event dates for August, September, and October will be posted soon.