You and your family and friends are invited to a sky-observing session on Friday evening, August 26, beginning at 9:00 p.m. PDT at Skyline Park. We will have at least six good-sized telescopes set up for your celestial-viewing pleasure.
Skyline Park is on Imola Avenue 1.6 miles east of the intersection of Imola Avenue and the Napa-Vallejo Highway (Soscol Ave). This intersection is just north of Napa Valley College. The park is where Imola Avenue makes a 90-degree turn. The park gate will be open; there will be NO entrance fee. Please park in the paved lot to the right of the entrance shack. The telescopes will be set up to the left of, and about 75 yards from, the entrance shack. It is a good idea to bring a flashlight to help you get to and from the scope area and the parking area.
First, we will show you the planet Saturn. Saturn will set about 9:35, so it will be quite near the western horizon, but we hop to be able to see it and its beautiful rings and its largest moon, Titan. We will also get to see the planet Neptune. It is 2.7 billion miles away, so we will see only a blue-green dot, but not many people can say they have ever seen Neptune! Two more rare sights will likely be visible: an asteroid (Vesta) and comet (named Garradd).
We will use a green-light laser to point out the summer constellations, including Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Draco, Hercules, Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila, Scorpius, Sagittarius, and others. We will also identify the famous asterisms (star-patterns), the Big and Little Dippers, Keystone, Northern Cross, Teapot, and others, as well as the well-known stars, Mizar and Alcor, the Pointers, Polaris, Arcturus, Vega, Deneb, Altair and Antares. We will also view the Milky Way passes upward through the middle of the sky at this time.
Through the telescopes we will also view at least one of each of kind of "deep-sky" object: exploded stars (called planetary nebulae), open star-clusters, nebulae (gas-dust clouds in space), and galaxies millions of light-years away. You will also get to see some beautiful double stars.
Everyone is welcome to attend, including non-students and children. (I will bring a step-stool so kids can see through the telescopes.) Dress warmly. Unless it is quite warm, shorts and sandals are probably not appropriate. If it is cool, jackets, hats, and thick socks might be called for.
There is always the chance that poor weather may force me to cancel the observing session. If you are on my e-mail contact list, I will send you an e-mail by 7:30 p.m. to verify (or cancel) the observing session. Otherwise, call my office after 7:30 p.m. on the 26th at 253-3196, and listen to the message on the answering machine to verify that we will actually be meeting that night. For more information email jcharlesworth@napavalley.edu.