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.

Half term special - one child admitted free with each paying adult

The Sun will have set at 5.28pm so it will be dark when The Centre opens at 6.30pm. The phase of the Moon is LAST QUARTER. It will already be high in the sky but sinking towards the western horizon, setting at 10.10pm so it will be visible for the first part of the evening.

To see the sky charts for the 22nd 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 22nd February it will be getting further from Earth. The Gallilean Moons will all be visible at some stage during the evening. However, Io will disappear behind Jupiter at 6.26pm reappearing on the eastern side of the planet at 9.43pm. See OCCULTATION for further details. Callisto will already be passing in front of Jupiter when The Centre opens. see TRANSIT for further details. The transit will have begun at 5.34pm and will end at 8.58pm. Ganymede and Europa will be on the eastern side of Jupiter all evening. They will be very close together and will in fact cross over each other during the course of the night. 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 9.12pm 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 to look at through a Moon filter attached to the eyepiece of the telescope. Other interesting celestial objects visible on the 22nd 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-obser...s#Open Evenings

http://www.the-observatory.org/open_evenings1#Feb22