Tonight is the first public night of the Gunnison Valley Observatory for the 2014 season! From tonight through September 13, the Observatory will be open every Friday and Saturday evening from dusk until around 11pm. Starting around 8:30, a 20-30 minute lecture will be given on an astronomy topic - tonight's lecture, given by Park Ranger Ali Barnes from the Black Canyon National Park, is on Saturn; tomorrow I will give a lecture on the basics of astronomy (constellations, planets, observing tips, etc.). Lectures are followed by viewing through the 30" telescope in the dome as well as smaller telescopes outside. The Observatory is a family friendly facility (though perhaps not a bedtime friendly facility!) If you're planning to visit, dress warmly (long pants, sweater or warm coat) as it does get cold! We also ask for a donation of $5 per adult and $3 per child. Hope to see you at the observatory!
Here's what's up in the sky right now: First and foremost, it's a full moon, which doesn't really help observing much, but is nice to look at, and certainly makes it easier to see where you're going at night. Fortunately in another few days, the Moon will be rising much later in the night so will only be an issue for those who do their astronomy in the AM hours. Despite the Moon, there's still much to be seen - most notably, we have three planets in the evening sky right now. Farthest west is Jupiter, Mars is almost overhead, and Saturn is to the east. Other great objects in the sky right now are several globular clusters (very cool in a telescope) such as M13, the Hercules globular cluster; some very nice nebulae, such as the Ring Nebula, Dumbbell Nebula, and Lagoon Nebula; and a few billion galaxies, several of which are nice telescope objects, like the Whirlpool Galaxy (though the full moon can make these hard to see).
Happy observing!
