Hi FAS people:
The weather gods are tough. Two weather sites (including the Sky Clock) predict it will turn clear tomorrow night; two others say it will be cloudy. The smart money will be on the latter, but I’m not too smart, so (for the moment) our public observation at Pilot Mountain is on. If you want to come, watch your email tomorrow, because if the forecast turns bad, I’ll postpone the observation until next week. And remember that it will be cold up on the top of the mountain, so dress accordingly.
Steve C.
Sunset 6:15 PM
Astronomical twilight 7:40 PM
Day Time Event –
Solar Observation – During the day there will be solar scopes available to view the Sun. These are special telescopes that allow visual view of our star.
The SUN – Distance 8.25 light min, 148.3 Million Km, .9912 AU, 864,000 miles, 109 Times larger than Earth
After Dark –
Sunset – 6:00PM ==== Astronomic Dusk 7:42PM Club members will be setting up there telescopes and other equipment before Sun set, it is a good time to ask questions.
High points – for the night
M42 – The Great Orion Nebula – One of the best objects in the sky – 1400ly
M31 – The Andromeda Galaxy – can be seen with Binoculars so bring yours get help finding it. – 2500kly
Jupiter and it moons – Callisto, Io, Europa, and Ganymede – 758 Mill KM,
M42 – The Pleiades, Seven Sisters – an open cluster great in Binoculars
M1 – The Crab Nebula – a supernova remnant – 6.2kly
M81 and M82 – Bode’s Nebula – Two great Galaxies in Ursa Major