Fall 2017
Fall 2017 Observatory Event Schedule
8/24, 9 pm. Saturn will be near its highest elevation in the south and be well positioned to see its rings in high contrast.
9/27, 8 pm. Come see the pock marked surface of our single satellite, Moon in surprising detail. The shadows round the crater’s rims and stretching across the bleak and forlorn landscape is truly a sight to behold.
10/19, 8 pm. View the Wild Duck Cluster, which is one of the richest and most compact of the known open clusters, containing about 2900 stars. Its name derives from the brighter stars forming a triangle which could resemble a flying flock of ducks.
10/24, 8 pm. Come see the Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Apple Core Nebula). It is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Vulpecula, at a distance of about 1,360 lightyears.
11/16, 8 pm. Come see the double clusters in Perseus. The clusters were first recorded by Hipparchus, but have likely been known since antiquity.
12/12, 8 pm. Come view the Pleiades, one of the brightest clusters in the sky and as such is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky. It is also among the nearest star clusters to the Earth.
