Where:

Frosty Drew Observatory

When:

Friday August 21, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Cost:

$1 Suggested Donation per Person

Tonight's weather is calling for t-storms, heavy rain, and fog. This forecast will unfortunately keep the Frosty Drew telescopes closed tonight. The 40% waxing crescent Moon, which will set just after 11:00 p.m., and would have given us excellent lunar viewing opportunities. Though telescopes will remain closed, we will still be on site at Frosty Drew with tours available and presentations in the Sky Theatre.

We will open the Observatory and Sky Theatre at from 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. In the Sky Theatre Frosty Drew astronomers will offer an open discussion on current happenings in space and general astronomy while showcasing astrophotos shot at Frosty Drew Observatory. In the Observatory tours of our telescopes and operations will be available.

Though tonight's forecast is looking quite grim, we have had an OK stretch of viewing nights at Frosty Drew this past month. Weather is not looking quite good for tomorrow either, but we will try for an opening if forecast improve. Otherwise, we will return to our regular Stargazing Nights schedule on Friday, August 28th. Until then, Follow us on Facebook or Twitter (@FrostyDrewOBSY) for updates on satellite passes and other astronomical happenings and get out to look at some stars!

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Weekly Happenings
Scott MacNeill

This past Monday, August 17th, the NASA Cassini Solstice made its final pass of the fourth largest of Saturn's moons, Dione. Orbiting Saturn at a distance of about 234,000 miles, Dione resides at pretty much the same distance from Saturn as the Moon is from Earth and is about 42% the diameter of Earth's moon. Being the fourth largest moon of Saturn and the fifteenth largest moon in the Solar System, Dione is visible in the Frosty Drew telescope from late twilight on when viewing Saturn. The Cassini Solstice mission will continue into late 2017 and will make additional passes of Saturn's moons, including an exceptionally close pass of Enceladus on October 28, 2015 at a distance of 30 miles above Enceladus surface! Check out the images released from this week's flyby of Dione and gear up for more amazing results from the fabulous Cassini Solstice mission.

Want to get your name on a mission to Mars? Well NASA is gearing up for another Mars mission that includes sending the InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) lander to the red planet. Launching in March 2016, InSight will arrive at Mars in late September 2016. InSight's two year mission will study the deep interior of Mars offering insights (pun?) on the processes that shaped Mars and the other rocky planets of the Solar System. Until September 8, 2015, NASA is accepting name submissions to be included on a microchip placed on board the InSight lander. So stop over at the NASA InSight page to register your boarding pass, then come up to speed on NASA's next Mars lander mission.