Star Party
Saturday, April 16, 7:30 PM

See the sights through multiple telescopes set up outside Palmer Observatory, just down the parking lot from the main entrance.
$2/$1 adults/children; members free

The Spring Sky

With the weather getting warmer, spring is a great season to take some time to look at the stars. The spring sky is full of new birth, in the form of new star forming regions, like the Orion Nebula. It’s also a good time to spot galaxies, especially with the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies joining the evening sky.

This year we also have some planetary visitors, Saturn and Jupiter, visible to the naked eye. Saturn and Jupiter are both gas giants, and are hundreds of times the size of Earth. In addition, they both have a multitude of moons. Jupiter’s most famous moons are the four Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto; the Galilean moons are easily visible with a telescope or even a pair of binoculars. Saturn has 33 known moons, its most famous and largest being Titan. The Huygens probe, released by the Cassini spacecraft in December, landed on Titan several months ago and is studying this unique and exciting world.

Orion Nebula	Virgo Supercluster	Saturn
Jupiter	Galilean Moons	Titan
Huygens Probe	Cassini Spacecraft