Free Public Stargazing at the Montgomery Hill Observatory

Enjoy a free public stargazing event at the Montgomery Hill Observatory from 7:45 - 10:45 pm. View the skies with our two observatories and several telescopes set out for the public. Kids learn how to use telescopes and identify objects in the sky!

Hi All,
For this evening, The Ring planet Saturn will be in the constellation Virgo; the Rings of Saturn will be tilted towards us so that we can see the Cassini Division. The rings are composed of lumps of ice from the size of tiny particles to boulders about the size of a car. Saturn has 62 moons, Titan is the largest, and Rhea, Lapetus, Dione, and Tethys are 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th in size. The planet Venus will be in close conjunction with Saturn, only 4 degrees will separate them. Jupiter, the king of all the planets, will be shining so bright, with its 4 moons. The waning gibbous Moon will be 98% illuminated it will be rising in the eastern night sky.

Let's see if we can find M31, the Andromeda galaxy; it is the nearest galaxy to us at 2.5 million light years away. It is slightly larger than our own Milky Way galaxy. The Andromeda and Milky Way Galaxy will collide together in 4 billion years; we are traveling at 110 kilometers per second toward each other. NGC 457, the Dragonfly cluster is in the constellation Cassiopeia; it was discovered by William Herschel in 1787. It is 7900 light years away and 21 million years old, also known as the E.T. cluster.

See if you can find the Summer Triangle; it's made up of three 3 stars Altair in Aquila the Eagle, Deneb in Cygnus the Swan, and Vega in Lyra the Harp. In the Constellation Cygnus, look for the best and most colorful double star, “Albireo,” a gold and blue double star.

Keep looking up; you're bound to find something new.
Rick Francisco

For questions, contact Rick Francisco at ricardo.francisco@evc.edu
Parking: Free Parking after 6:00 PM in parking lot #9A for this event.

For questions, contact Rick Francisco at ricardo.francisco@evc.edu