32 inch Cassegrain Project, General Astronomy

Planets of the Month: OCTOBER 2019

by Erich Karkoschka

Planets for October 2019

planet-of-the-month-mercury Mercury is 7 degrees left and slightly above Venus for most of the month. During the last week of October, it moves below Venus. MARK YOUR CALENDAR for the transit of Mercury on November 11th.
planet-of-the-month-venus Venus is back in the evening sky visible before 6:30 pm.
planet-of-the-month-moon Shortly after New Moon, the Moon is near Venus on the 29th and near Jupiter on the 31st.
planet-of-the-month-mars Mars becomes visible again around the 19th during dawn. On the 26th it is 5 degrees below the thin lunar crescent.
planet-of-the-month-jupiter Jupiter shines above Antares in the southwest during the early evening. Its distance from Venus shrinks from 50 to 25 degrees
 planet-of-the-month-saturn  Saturn is 25 degrees to the east of Jupiter. By the end of the month only 20 degrees.
 planet-of-the-month-uranus  Uranus is in opposition on the 267th in Aries, visible with very good eyes.
 planet-of-the-month-neptune Neptune can be found with binoculars in Aquarius, 45 degrees west of Uranus.
 planet-of-the-month-meteor  The Orionids meteors are best visible during the morning of the 22nd.
32 inch Cassegrain Project, Astronomical Events, General Astronomy, Solar System

Planets of the Month: Summer 2019

by Erich Karkoschka

Planets for Summer 2019 (June – September)

planet-of-the-month-mercury Mercury is visible all June until July 3 in the evening to the WNW just after sunset. In mid-June, it is the most obvious object in the western sky. August 3 -24 it is visible during dawn in the east.
planet-of-the-month-venus Venus is a difficult dawn object until July 18. It will reappear September 18 low at dusk.
planet-of-the-month-moon The Moon is New on June 3, July 2, July 31, August 30, and September 28. First Quarter Moon is June 10, July 9, August 7, September 5. Full Moon is June 17, July 16, August 15, and September 13. There is a partial Lunar Eclipse on July 16, visible in South America and further east.
planet-of-the-month-mars Mars is above Mercury in early June. On June 18, Mercury passes close to Mars. Then, Mars slowly gets lower during dusk until it disappears in the glow of the Sun at the end of June for the rest of the summer.
planet-of-the-month-jupiter Jupiter comes in opposition to the Sun on June 10 and is a great evening object all summer. It is moving toward Antares.
 planet-of-the-month-saturn  Saturn is just 30 degrees east of Jupiter. It is in opposition July 9 and will be a great evening object most of the summer as well. The brightest parts of the Milky Way are between Jupiter and Saturn in the night sky.
 planet-of-the-month-neptune  The distant, faint planets come in opposition September 8 (Neptune) and October 28 (Uranus).
 There are two eclipses in July. A Total Solar Eclipse July 2, visible in South America, and a Partial Lunar Eclipse on July 16, visible in South America and further east.
Star Parties

Evening Under the Stars – at the Chiricahua Astronomy Complex (CAC) April 13

The telescope fields at the Dark Site

The next Evening Under the Stars at the TAAA Chiricahua Astronomy Complex (CAC) is scheduled for Saturday April 13, 2024

The gate will be open at 6:30 pm with the program starting at 7 and we will be observing until around 9:30. If you are still thinking whether to attend, this is a fantastic opportunity to view celestial objects under some incredibly dark skies using several large telescopes.  We have a 40″ mirror Dobsonian, a 9″ lens Refractor, and a 14″ mirror Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope that will be open for observing. We will also have several other telescopes open to observe through.

You will see galaxies millions of light years away, star clusters, multiple star systems, nebulae, and lots more. Many of these are visible to the naked eye under our dark skies.

Definitely a family event that is a great opportunity for kids. Although it is a bit of a drive from Tucson, you can spend the day at the Chiricahua National Monument, grab something to eat, then come over to our Chiricahua Astronomy Complex (CAC) for an evening of telescope observing. CAC is only about 15 miles from the Chiricahua National Monument.   

There is no cost to attend but reservations are required so we can notify you by email how to get to CAC and let you know if there are any weather issues.  Please email John Kalas to make reservations: euts[at]tucsonastronomy.org not later than Wednesday April 10th (PROVIDE number of attendees, vehicles, and contact email for notification of any event changes). We will also post any updates on our Evening Under the Stars Facebook Event page, so follow the event for any real-time updates. Hopefully we will see you at CAC!

Preparing for evening viewing through the 9 inch refractor
The 40 inch
Gathering to hear the observing plans for the evening
Astronomical Events

Planets of the Month: May 2019

by Erich Karkoschka

planet-of-the-month-mercury Mercury starts its best evening apparition of 2019 on May 30.
planet-of-the-month-venus Venus rises during dawn and remains very low before sunrise.
planet-of-the-month-moon The Moon is New on the 4th, barely visible on the 5th before 8 pm, near Aldebaran on the 6th, and near Mars on the 7th. The next first sighting of the crescent after New Moon will occur on June 4, when it will be easier to spot than on May 5th, but still be very thin.
planet-of-the-month-mars Mars is visible during the early evening near Elnathm, passing MN35 in Gemini on the 19th.
planet-of-the-month-jupiter Jupiter rises at 10 pm, when Mars sets, but by 8 pm at the end of May.
 planet-of-the-month-saturn  Saturn is 28 degrees east of Jupiter and a good morning object.
 planet-of-the-month-neptune  Dwarf planet Ceres is observable in binoculars. It is magnitude 7, moving from Ophiuchus into Scorpius.
32 inch Cassegrain Project

Planets of the Month: April 2019

by Erich Karkoschka

planet-of-the-month-mars Mars is still an evening object until 10 pm. It moves from the Golden Gate, between Aldebaran and the Pleiades, all the way through Taurus.
Jupiter transits at dawn.
Venus is further east and does not rise until 5 am during dawn.
Saturn is 26 degrees east of Jupiter, the closest since 2001.
Mercury races with Venus. The first half of April, it is slower than Venus, so Venus catches up to 5 degrees distance. Then is faster and gets slowly further away from Venus until it disappears after the 28th.
The minor Planet (2) Pallas is 8th Magnitude and high up in Bootes.
General Astronomy, Solar System

Planets of the Month: March 2019

by Erich Karkoschka

planet-of-the-month-mars Mars is still magnitude 1, 40 degrees high at dusk, sets at 11 pm. It is moving toward Taurus with Aldebaran of similar brightness and color.  The last week of March it is 3 degrees south of the Pleiades.
Uranus is visible in binoculars below Mars.
Jupiter transits at dawn.
Venus is further east and stays low at dawn.
Saturn is 26 degrees east of Jupiter, the closest since 2001.
Mercury is visible at dusk till the 5th and at dawn starting on the 30th.
The moon is close to Venus on the morings of March 2 and 3. The moon will be back in the evening sky on the 7th as a very thin crescent low in the west.
General Astronomy, Solar System

Planets of the Month: February 2019

by Erich Karkoschka

Mercury has the best evening apparition of 2019, visible after the 12th in the west at dusk, best around the 24th.
planet-of-the-month-mars Mars is still magnitude 1, 50 degrees high at dusk, sets after 11 pm. It is moving toward Aries and Taurus with Aldebaran of similar brightness and color.
Uranus is 1 degree south of Mars on February 12. Although Mars is 100 times as bright as Uranus, both are of similar sizes, 6 arcsec versus 4 arcsec, but very different colors.
Jupiter rises at 3 am and is 30 degrees high at dawn.
Venus rises 4:30 am and is 20 degrees high at dawn.  Venus and Jupiter are only separated by 10 degrees at the beginning of the month.
Saturn rises after Venus in early February.  On the 18th, it is within 1 degree of Venus.  Saturn and Jupiter are separated by 30 degrees, the closest since 2001.
The moon will be back in the evening sky on the 6th, possibly on the 5th, very low in the WSW in bright twilight.  Binoculars may be needed to spot it depending on the atmospheric conditions.
Star Parties

January & February Astronomy Events

(By Jim Knoll)

We have quite a few public events in the next two months and are all free unless otherwise noted below. All are weather dependent and could be cancelled if we have extensive cloud cover. They are also posted on the TAAA Calendar so you can get directions and additional information.  The All our public events are also posted on then TAAA Facebook Page as an Event and you can follow one and get weather and other updates in real-time.

January 12. Catalina State Park. 6:30 – 9:30 pm. State Park entrance fee required.

January 19. Tucson Mountain Park Ironwood Picnic area. 6 – 8 pm.

January 20. Total Lunar Eclipse. University of Arizona Mall just south of Flandrau Science Center. We will have several telescopes set ups to view the total eclipse. Partial begins 8:33 pm. Total from 9:41 – 10:43 pm, and partial again after that. We will have telescopes operating from 8 – 11 pm. Flandrau Science Center will also be open late.

February 2. Tucson Mountain Park Ironwood Picnic area. 6:30 – 8:30.

February 9. Two events scheduled

— Tucson Star Party, co-hosted with Astronomy Magazine. Pima Community College East
Campus. Solar observing 10 am to 5:30 pm. Evening observing from 6:30 – 9 pm.  Astronomy Magazine Blog Post:  http://cs.astronomy.com/asy/b/astronomy/archive/2019/01/02/the-tucson-star-party-will-be-a-day-of-sun-and-stars.aspx.

— Agua Caliente Park. 6:30 – 8:30 pm.

Come join us for any of these events. They are a lot of fun and really good for a family activity.

General Astronomy, Solar System

Planets of the Month: January 2019

by Erich Karkoschka

TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE January 20:  8:34-11:51 pm, totality 9:41-10:44 pm. High in sky, near Castor and Pollux.  Southern limb of moon gets very close to the center of the umbra at mid eclipse (10:12 pm).
planet-of-the-month-mars Mars at magnitude 1, 60 degegrees high at dusk, sets after 11 pm.
It is moving fast through the faint stars of Pisces.
Uranus and Neptune on both sides of Mars visible in binoculars.
Venus rises 4 am at brillant magnitude -4.5, high during dawn,
naked eye visibility after sunrise.
Jupiter at magnitude -2 rises first at 5 am. Jupiter and Venus approach each other.
Closest on 21st, 2.5 degrees separation, spectacular around 6 am!
Comet Wirtanen, magnitude 5 and dimming, moves fast from Lynx to
Ursa Major, circumpolar.
The moon will be close to Mars on the 12th and close to Venus on
the 31st.
Latest sunrise is January 8.