Summer Stargazing Nights

Summer Stargazing Nights

Where:
Frosty Drew Observatory
When:
Friday July 17, 2015 at 6:00 p.m.
Cost:
$1 Suggested Donation per Person

Tonight's forecast is calling for partly cloudy skies becoming cloudy overnight. This is very unfortunate considering the super thin 5% waxing crescent Moon will set just after sunset and would have given us fabulous skies for stargazing. Last night's skies were phenomenal and we were hoping for a repeat tonight. Though the skies will progressively get worse as the night sets in, we should be able to spot the thin crescent Moon, Venus, and Saturn among passing clouds before we lose the sky to clouds.

We will open the Observatory and Sky Theatre at 6:00 p.m. tonight. In the Observatory, live views of the solar photosphere with be available showcasing sunspot 2386. Once the sun sets we will direct our telescopes towards the crescent Moon and Venus. Later in the evening we will put Saturn on display for all to see. The Nature Center will be open from 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. with Frosty Drew Naturalists on hand featuring our summer programs. The Sky Theatre will feature a showcase of astrophotos shot at Frosty Drew Observatory and the Lunar Lounge with showcase the amazing images of Pluto and Charon coming back from the NASA New Horizons spacecraft. We will stay on site until clouds kick us out.

Overall, tonight's forecast is not looking too promising. Views of Venus and Saturn should be available and, if so, will certainly mesmerize all who catch a glance. Following us on Twitter (@FrostyDrewOBSY) or Facebook will get you updates from the Observatory on what to expect. Though skies aren't looking awesome, there will be an ample supply of astro-geekage available for those wanting a fix. So stop in tonight and check out Saturn's rings, Venus crescent or just chat about how amazing the New Horizons mission has been.

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Weekly Happenings
Scott MacNeill

This past Tuesday, July 14, 2015 was a day for the history books, when the NASA New Horizons mission successfully performed its planned fly-by maneuver of Pluto. Though far from complete, this mission has placed the last check mark on the solar system's list of classical planets to visit. Images released to date have been mind blowing to say the least, though we are only scratching the surface of the mountain of information we are yet to receive.

Just before midnight EDT on Monday, July 13, 2015, New Horizons went into communications black out mode. New Horizons priority at that point was to gather the maximum amount of data it could during its encounter with Pluto and not to bother communicating with Earth. The black out period was scheduled to last for 21 hours, during which all Earth bound crazies were riddled with anxiety and anticipation. Well at 8:53 p.m. on Tuesday, July 14th, New Horizons phoned home, re-establishing communications with Earth and the New Horizons mission team. This communication signaled that the fly-by encounter was a success and that New Horizons was in excellent health! Shortly after, New Horizons begun transmitting low resolutions versions of some images it had acquired during the encounter, and these initial images have challenged our knowledge of Pluto and outright floored us.

Received images have shown significantly less cratering on Pluto and its largest moon Charon than we would have expected, this hints at recent geological processes occurring on these worlds. We have identified huge mountains on Pluto, with elevations upwards of 11,000 feet. Possibly composed of super hard water ice, these mountains are likely less than 100 million years old and may still be growing. The huge dark polar region on Charon, which was identified on approach, appears to be a thin deposit of dark material over a sharply bounded angular feature on the surface. Charon also features canyons as deep as 6 miles. Both surfaces of Pluto and Charon display the appearance of youth and suggest a changing geological landscape.

These small unspeakably amazing samples that New Horizons has returned so far are a taste of the treasure trove that remains on the New Horizons spacecraft waiting to be sent back to Earth. Over the next 16 months we will receive the entire dataset of the fly-by encounter with regular releases of mind blowing discoveries and images. During which New Horizons will continue its journey further into the Kuiper Belt for a rendezvous with another Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) in 2019. After all the fly-by encounter datasets are evaluated, we will have a strikingly different and much more solid understanding of what the Pluto system is like, leading us inevitably to much larger questions.

Get in on the action at the New Horizons Mission Page.

Save the Date:
An Evening Under the Stars: A fundraiser for Frosty Drew Observatory – Saturday, July, 25, 2015

Under the Perseid Meteor Shower – Wednesday, August, 12, 2015

-Scott