Open House Previews for Spring 2012
What we look at will depend on weather and interest. Here are a few possible highlights.
Solar System: Mars will be high in the sky tonight. Not the most interesting planet to look at, but if we are very lucky we may be able to make out polar icecaps. Saturn on the other hand, is one of the best observing targets and will be well positioned for us, with the rings tilted so we can get a great look at the ring system, perhaps even make out the Cassini gap between the A and B rings. We should also see some of the planet's many moons.
Stars and Clusters: We can take a look at Castor, one of the bright twins Gemini. Appropriately, both Castor and his twin Pollux are binary stars, the telescope will allow us to resolve the two partners. We can see some open clusters such as the King Cobra Cluster (M67) or the well-known Beehive Cluster (M44). But this is a wonderful night for viewing globular clusters, and we will definitely look at the Hercules Cluster (M13) and M5 and perhaps a few others (M3, M53, M92, and talk about these interesting objects.
Nebulae: Those who stay late will be treated to an early (in the year) view of the Ring Nebula, the spectacular remains of a dead star.
Galaxies: This should be a spectacular night for looking at deep sky objects with many galaxies in good position, the pretty Cigar Galaxy (M82), the Leo Triplet (M65-66) and hopefully some of the members of the rich Virgo Cluster.
What we look at will depend on weather and interest. Here are a few possible highlights.
Solar System: As we set up, we will have a chance to see Venus disappear below the trees, but we should have a chance to catch a last look at Uranus this year. Jupiter, prominent in the evening sky, will certainly be one of the highlights of the evening. With our instruments we can make out some of the more prominent features on the planet - at least the two equatorial belts of dark color - and the four Galilean moons. A waxing gibbous Moon will dominate the sky. This may limit our ability to see some faint Deep Sky objects against the background of scattered moonlight, but Luna herself should make for brilliant viewing and should be the last thing you observe (destroying your night vision) before you leave. Prominent craters Tycho and Copernicus will be visible. Mare Humorum (the Sea of Humors) and the adjacent crater Gassendi will be on the terminator (the line separating dark from light parts of the Moon) for optimal viewing.
Stars and Clusters: We can take a look at Castor, one of the bright twins Gemini. Appropriately, both Castor and his twin Pollux are binary stars, the telescope will allow us to resolve the two partners. We can see open clusters such as the Salt and Pepper Cluster (M52) also known as the Scorpion, and the pretty Double Cluster.
Nebulae: One of the most interesting objects in the sky, the Great Nebula in Orion (M42) will be visible, though too near the bright Moon for optimal viewing. This stellar nursery appears to us as the middle star of Orion's belt, but the telescope reveals a rich structure including clouds of glowing, ionized Hydrogen, obscuring dust lanes, and the new, young, hot stars of the Trapezium
Galaxies: The famous Great Spiral in Andromeda (M31) will be visible. The nearest large galaxy to our own Milky Way, this is an impressive spiral spanning 4-5 times the size of a full Moon in the sky. Through our telescopes, we will only be able to make out the brightest central core of the galaxy; still, observing an object 2.5 million light-years away is exciting. We may look for more distant galaxies as well, though the brign Moon might make this difficult.