Stargazing at Catalina State Park

Star Party-Catalina State Park
Tucson, AZ
Viewing Location: Trailhead Picnic area at end of road inside the park.
Information: Great dark skies just north of Tucson at Catalina State Park. Star Party open to the Public. Admission cost for entrance into Catalina State Park. Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association will have 10 telescopes for astronomical viewing. We will observe Planets, Nebulae, Galaxies, Star Clusters and lots more. Great opportunity to look through a wide variety of telescopes. Weather dependent. For real-time updates, follow this event on the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association Facebook Events Page (https://www.facebook.com/TucsonAstronomy/).

Additional details will be posted here and on Facebook as we get closer to the event.

Stargazing at Aqua Caliente Park

Viewing Location: Bus Lanes @ North end of Parking Lot
Information: Great dark skies in Northeast Tucson. Star Party open to the Public. Cost: FREE. Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association will have several telescopes for astronomical viewing. We will observe Planets, Nebulae, Galaxies, Star Clusters and lots more. Great opportunity to look through a variety of telescopes. Park gate may close before event end time, so arrive as close to start time as possible. Weather dependent. For real-time updates, follow this event on the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association Facebook Events Page (https://www.facebook.com/TucsonAstronomy/).

FREE but REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. go to:Eventbright and search “Stargazing” and location “Tucson”. These events fill up fast so recommend registering early. Event may not show up until about two months out.

Stargazing Aqua Caliente Park

32 inch Cassegrain Project

Planets of the Month: December 2022

By Erich Karkoschka

Saturn is still high in the southwest at dusk and sets late in the evening.

Jupiter follows higher with a transit at dusk and sets just past midnight. On the 15th, we can watch Ganymede’s shadow until 8:18 pm (MST). On the 22nd, Ganymede transits Jupiter’s disk until 7 pm with its shadow following starting at 9:44 pm. On the 29th, Ganymede transits from 8:11 to 11:07 pm. All these transits occur on Thursdays.

Mars reaches opposition on the 7th, at the same time as the Full Moon occurs. Furthermore the moon occults Mars! The event lasts from 7:32 to 8:27 pm, a great sight even with just your eyes. The disappearance and reappearance of Mars lasts almost a minute. Have your telescope ready for this rare event! Mars shows a polar cap and details on its surface quite well due to its 17 arc-seconds diameter.

Venus can be found in the southwest during early dusk.

Mercury joins Venus from the 6th to the 30th, to the upper left of Venus. The prettiest sight is on the 24th when the crescent moon is next to both planets.

Uranus is just past opposition and well placed almost all night.

Neptune is still observable during the first half of the night 6 degrees west of Jupiter.

32 inch Cassegrain Project

Planets of the Month: November 2022

By Erich Karkoschka

Saturn transits 40 degrees high during dusk. Its rings are still open by 15 degrees, which will not happen again until 2028.

Jupiter rules the night, 40 degrees east of Saturn. It is so bright that it can cast shadows at a very dark site. On the evening of the 2nd and 9th, Ganymede’s large shadow wanders across Jupiter’s disk.

Mars is the bright orange “star” in the east during late evenings. Its rising times change from 8 pm at the beginning of the month to before 6 pm at the end. After the first week, it is even brighter than Sirius. Its disk reaches 17 arc-seconds diameter, which shows its surface details quite well in a telescope. On the 30th, Mars is closest to Earth. Its distance is better than at an average opposition, and its altitude in Tucson reaches 83 degrees. Hard to beat!

Venus will start its evening visibility in December, with good eyesight even during the last days of November.

Uranus comes into opposition on the 9th. At magnitude 5.6 and 74 degrees high in the sky at midnight, it is within reach of naked eye visibility if you know where to look.

Neptune is visible in binoculars 7 degrees to the west of Jupiter.

Vesta is as bright as Neptune, but 20 degrees to the southwest in Aquarius.

The Leonid meteor shower might have an intense outburst around 11 pm on the 17th. This is just when the radiant rises in Tucson, which means we would only see a few meteors grazing the atmosphere. If it lasts for an hour, when the radiant will be higher, we may be in for a treat.

32 inch Cassegrain Project, Musings

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32 inch Cassegrain Project

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32 inch Cassegrain Project

Planets of the Month – October 2022

By Erich Karkoschka

Jupiter is the most obvious planet, shining brightly at magnitude minus 3 all night. It just had its closest opposition in 50 years.

Saturn is 40 degrees to the west of Jupiter. It is first magnitude in an area of the sky without bright stars.

Mars rises at 10 pm and later in the month by 9 pm. It outshines all surrounding stars of the winter constellations until Sirius rises in the morning. It becomes interesting to observers with a telescope as its diameter reaches 15 arc-seconds, sufficient to see its surface detail.

Uranus rises after dusk in the constellation of Aries. It can be found naked eye if you know exactly where to look and have fairly dark skies.

Neptune is a binocular object 10 degrees to the west of Jupiter.

Mercury is visible during dawn in the first three weeks of October. It is often a challenge when it becomes visible, but around the center of its visibility period it should be quite obvious around 5:30 am low in the eastern sky.

Vesta is at 7th magnitude and thus even brighter than Neptune. It finishes its retrograde opposition period in Capricornus.

The Moon covers two planets. It occults Uranus on the 11th from 9:54-10:29. Ingress and egress take about 12 seconds due to the 4 arc-second disk of Uranus. On the 24th, it occults Mercury after sunrise. Only specialists will be able to locate Mercury in their telescope, and the moon will be invisible as it is not illuminated. Mercury will suddenly dim over 10 seconds and then be gone.

Orionid Meteor Shower. Parent Comet: Halley’s Comet. Peak is the early morning hours of October 21st around 3 am. Some may be visible late evening on the 20th. Comets will appear to radiate from the constellation of Orion. Will need a dark sky to see very many (10-20 per hour).

Tucson Star Party

Join the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association (TAAA) in conjunction with Editors from the Astronomy Magazine and Pima Community College (PCC) East for some astronomy talks, solar observing, and evening stargazing.

Astronomy Talks and Safe Solar viewing of the Sun 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.
(All Talks in the Observatory area, Room EC-M102)
Talks:
— Galaxies — David J Eicher, Astronomy magazine 2 p.m.
— 2023 & 2024 U.S. Solar Eclipses — Michael Bakich 3 p.m.
— (Topic TBD) — Alan Goldstein 4 p.m.

Campus Information & Tours 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Solar Observing at the Observatories 2 – 5 p.m.
Night Sky Viewing at the Observatories 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Evening observing of planets, star clusters, multiple star systems, nebulae, galaxies, and lots more through several telescopes.

Observing will be at the south end of the PCC East Campus near the astronomy domes.

Follow our Facebook event for any real-time updates or adjustments due to weather at: TAAA Facebook Events page

Stargazing Canoa Ranch

This Star Party is cancelled for tonight. The cloud cover is forecast to increase as the evening progresses to the point that it needs to be cancelled.

Join the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association (TAAA) and Pima County Natural Resources Parks and Recreation for some stargazing at Historic Canoa Ranch. We will observe planets, star clusters, multiple star systems, nebulae, galaxies, and lots more.

FREE but REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED: Go to Eventbright and search for stargazing Canoa Ranch. May fill up quickly, so recommend registering as early as possible (event may not show up in Eventbright until about two months before).