Scheduled time for Public Observing: 9pm – 11pm

Solar System Objects:

The Moon: will be 38° high in the West at 10pm, and 40% illuminated (Waxing Crescent phase, 6.5 days old). The major maria, or “seas”, are labeled below. For a sense of scale, Mare Crisium is 345 miles across, roughly the size of New Mexico. Also try looking for the triple crater formation of Theophilus, Cyrillus, and Catharina; each crater is about 60 miles across.

 Images (c) Virtual Moon Atlas / http://ap-i.net/avl/en/start

Planets: Jupiter will be rising in the SE, but won’t be above the 20 degree limit for observation with the 20″ refractor (18° up at 11pm. It may be viewed earlier if any telescopes are set up outside the observatory). Just in case, the positions of it’s major satellites at 11pm are shown below.

Image courtesy of Starry Night (R) Orion Special Edition, Version: 6.2.3 kcEW, Imaginova (R) Corp.

Deep-Sky Objects:

Observation of faint deep-sky objects is limited from Middletown because of light pollution, but a few of the brightest are usually visible, especially if the sky has good transparency. One example is the globular cluster M3 in the constellation Canes Venatici. Also, there are always a few double or multiple stars that could be viewed.

Man-made Objects:

International Space Station (ISS): Unfortunately, the ISS will not be visible tonight from CT.