Our Programs…
… are on clear Friday and Saturday nights from March - Late November. Watch the main page. By noon on the day of each program we post a forecast and a note on whether or not the program that evening will go forward.
April 4-5: The Rugged First Quarter Moon: The line between night and day on the moon, the terminator, runs right down the middle of the moon this Friday. This brings the mountains, valleys and craters on its surface into stark relief. On Saturday evening we may get a chance to see the “Lunar X” a strange light and shadow feature that makes a bright “x” out of the rims of two craters. Also, Mars and Jupiter. (8:00 PM)
April 11-12: The Micro Moon: You’ve probably heard of a Super Moon, a full moon that occurs when it is a bit closer than usual to the Earth. This month, with the moon a bit further away than usual, we get a Micro Moon. Also Mars and Jupiter. (8:00 PM)
April 18-19: The Celestial Beehive: High overhead on spring nights, in the heart of Cancer the Crab, is a strange fuzzy blob just visible to the naked eye in the dark skies of JGAP. In binoculars and small telescopes, it blooms into a beautiful star cluster. Also, we’ll be saying goodbye to Orion. (8:15 PM)
April 25-26: Leo the Lion: Perhaps the oldest of the western constellations, Leo is perfectly placed. Leo lies in the
direction of many galaxies, like the pair M65 and M66. We will be hunting down these objects this weekend in dark skies.(8:15 PM)
May 2-3: The Asteroids: The name “Asteroid” comes from the ancient Greek word meaning “Star-like”, and they do, indeed look like stars. This weekend, one of the brightest of them, Vesta, is well placed for viewing. It’s small, and looks just like a star, but if you observe it multiple times you’ll see that it does something that stars do not do: move. Also, the rugged crescent moon. (8:30 PM)
The Clear Sky Clock
This window shows the predicted cloud cover and sky transparency for upcoming hours. A grey or white box in either the "Cloud Cover" or "Transparency" row generally indicates that no stars or planets will be able to be seen. Aqua will be adequate for planets,, but not good for faint stars, galaxies, and nebulae, and light and dark blue are good for all objects.
This image of M81 and M82 by Jason Hissong
View of the Month:
M81 and M82
The galaxies M81 and M82 are giant spirals that are, galactically speaking, nearby. Not part of our local group, they are nonetheless in the next neighborhood over. Even so, their light has been travelling 12 million years before it reaches our eyes
These two galaxies are relatively close by one another, and their mutual gravity is causing a burst of star formation in the smaller M82. The multitudes of supernovae from hot, young stars which live through their short lives quickly and furiously explode, has sent shockwaves into space and spewed material out into the galactic realm.
These two galaxies are easy to see in small telescopes on a dark spring or summer evening. They appear near the “Bowl” of the Big Dipper and are almost straight up once skies are dark, as of this writing (mid-April.)