Scheduled time for Public Observing: 9pm – 11pm

Solar System Objects:

The Moon: will be 25° high in the West at 10pm, and 27% illuminated (Waxing Crescent phase, 5.1 days old). It will be too low for viewing in the 20″ refractor by 10:30pm. The phase and major features are shown below, try observing the southern lunar highlands around the crater Janssen for some interesting features. Janssen itself is an ancient crater heavily degraded by subsequent impacts, and is 115 miles in diameter.

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

Planets: Jupiter is rising in the SE, and will be high enough for observation by 9:30pm. The positions of it’s major satellites at 10pm are shown here.

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

Deep-Sky Objects:

Double Stars: Not far from the moon in the sky is the double star Iota Cancri , with contrasting colors described as pale yellow and deep blue.

Nebula and Star Clusters: One of the brightest deep-sky objects, the globular star cluster M13, is 47° high in the East by 10pm. This cluster shows well in the 20″ refractor despite the brightness of the sky in Middletown. It’s about 25,000 light years away in the constellation Hercules, and contains about 300,000 stars. There are about 250 globular clusters in orbit around the center of the Milky Way. Photo below by an ASGH member.

Man-made Objects:

International Space Station (ISS): The ISS won’t be visible during public observing, it’s currently making early morning passes over this area.

Iridium Satellites: These satellites can produce bright flares (brighter than Venus) from their antenna arrays. Any visible flares will be added closer to the observing date, as prediction accuracy improves.