UPDATED: Viewing on Sunday, February 9

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Updated February 11, 2014

After clouds moved in at the last minute on Saturday evening, we had to cancel and push the viewing ahead to the next day, Sunday, February 9.  That evening fortunately proved to be a clear, albeit quite chilly, but we had 12 hardy guests brave the elements to attend. Our RASC volunteers discussed astronomy topics with the guests and answered questions while they kept warm and awaited their turn to go up to the telescope.

The objects observed were the waxing gibbous Moon – in particular, some of the craters in its southern hemisphere – and Jupiter.  Despite atmospheric conditions not being at their best, we were able to see the two large brown bands near Jupiter’s equator and three of its four Galilean moons. A simulated view of what we saw is shown below (using Stellarium), although we could not make out quite that level of detail (we weren’t able to discern the Great Red Spot or smaller bands, for example)

JupiterFeb9

Public viewings are co-hosted by the UPEI Physics Department and the Charlottetown Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC).

Cancelled: January 11/12 viewing

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Updated 6:08 PM January 12

Due to overcast skies, the “cloud-date” viewing scheduled for Sunday, January 12 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm is being cancelled.  This viewing was scheduled after the Saturday, January 11 viewing also had to be cancelled due to weather.

Our next regularly scheduled viewing is Saturday, February 8 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm with an alternate date of February 9 in the event of poor weather conditions.

Everyone is welcome to attend public viewings.  To do so, meet in Memorial Hall in room 417 and you will be guided up to the observatory when it is available.  It is necessary to climb the stairs one floor up to the observatory, however the elevator can be taken up to the 4th floor before doing so.

Public viewings are co-hosted by the UPEI Physics Department and the Charlottetown Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC).

Jupiter in our evening sky

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JupiterFall2013

Jupiter is currently in the constellation Gemini (which has two bright stars, Pollux and Castor), found east of Orion. Shown here at 10:00 PM AST on November 24, 2013.(Image source: screenshot from free planetarium software Stellarium: www.stellarium.org)

Jupiter is appearing once again in our evening sky after several months absence.

As Earth and Jupiter both travel around the Sun, Jupiter’s position relative to the Sun changes as viewed from Earth.  When Jupiter is on the other side of the Sun from Earth (called conjunction), we are unable to see Jupiter because it appears to be near the Sun from our vantage point (and its reflected light is overwhelmed by the Sun’s light).

JupiterConjunctionVsOppositionWhen Jupiter is on the same side of Sun as Earth (called “opposition”), it appears bright and highest in our night sky.  As Jupiter nears opposition (which next occurs in January, 2014), it changes from rising just before sunrise to rising earlier in the night.  Currently, it’s rising around 8:00 PM and can then be seen in the evening and night sky.

You can easily spot Jupiter with the naked eye – it’s one of the brightest objects in the sky.  Look for it east of Orion near two bright stars of the constellation Gemini (as shown in the first image above).

If you have binoculars that you can hold good and steady, you may also be able to spot Jupiter’s four largest moons (called “Galilean” after Galileo, their discoverer) as four bright dots in a line around Jupiter.  These moons will switch position from one night to another as they orbit around Jupiter.

Jupiter and its largest moons viewed through binoculars
(Source: http://en.es-static.us/upl/2009/07/jupiter_galilean_moons_300.jpg)

 

Cancellation of Saturday (Oct. 12) viewing; Possibility of Sunday viewing

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Due to cloudy skies, we have cancelled the viewing scheduled for Saturday, October 12, 2013.

The weather is looking clear for tomorrow evening, so we are tentatively scheduling a viewing for Sunday, October 13, 2013 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM.  The forecast will be evaluated later tomorrow and an update posted if this viewing also needs to be cancelled (Keep your fingers crossed for clear skies!).

If the viewing goes ahead, those wishing to attend are asked to meet in Memorial Building Room 417.