Herstmonceux Open Evening

Open Evening at the Observatory Science Centre, Herstmonceux

Weather permitting the telescopes in the main domes will be open for public observing, including the 13" astrographic refractor, 26" Thompson refractor and Thompson 30" reflector.

The sun will have set at about 5.15pm so it will be dark when The Centre opens at 6.30pm. The phase of the Moon is 1 day after FULL MOON. It will rise at 6.13pm and will not set until 7.21am the following morning so it will be visible all night.

To see the sky charts for the 15th February visit Heavens Above. You will need to alter the times and dates in the boxes below the current chart to find out what is in the night sky on the dates of the open evenings.

Jupiter will already be high in the sky and will be visible all evening. It is in the constellation of Gemini (see sky chart from Heavens Above). It will be at MAGNITUDE -2.5 which is very bright. Jupiter reached OPPOSITION on the 5th January so on the 15th February it will be getting further from Earth. The Gallilean Moons will all be visible at some stage during the evening with Io reappearing on the eastern side of the planet at 7.48pm. Ganymede, Europa and Callisto will also be on the eastern side in that order from Jupiter outwards. However, during the evening Io and Ganymede will cross over each other. The centre of Jupiter's GREAT RED SPOT will cross the central meridian (the imaginary line running from north to south) of the planet at 8.25pm and will be well placed for viewing for at least an hour before and after this time.

Jupiter will be one of the main features of the evening but the Moon is also very beautiful through the telescopes through a Moon filter. Other interesting celestial objects visible on the 15th February include the ORION NEBULA.

The smaller telescopes of Wealden Astronomical Society will be situated on the lawns at the front of the Centre and will also be available for you to look through.

http://www.the-observatory.org/events

http://www.the-observatory.org/open-evenings#Open%20Evenings#Open Evenings

http://www.the-observatory.org/open_evenings1#feb15