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Maturango Museum

Next Star Party:

Saturday, October 12, 2024 7:30 PM

Quarter Moon Star Party at Maturango - October

* IMPORTANT: Please check here for POSSIBLE WEATHER CANCELLATIONS. *

The waxing Moon will be 10.2 days past New Moon and 74% illuminated..

For a detailed map of what's visible on the Moon this night, go to Derekscope Moon Phase Maps and click on the 12–day Moon.

Saturn will be in good viewing position in the East. This will be a rare opportunity to see the rings almost edge–on, an alignment that happens only every 15 years! In addition, we should be able to pick out several of Saturn's moons, including Titan. Titan is the second largest moon in the Solar System (Jupiter's Ganymede is 2% larger) and larger than Earth's Moon and the planet Mercury. At 807 million miles away, it appears as a dim star in our scopes.

Besides Titan, we will search for Saturn's brighter moons. The ringed planet has 146 (!) known moons; we hope to see 3-6 of the brightest.

Activity

Telescope views of the Moon and Saturn

Tonight we can see craters, mountains, rilles, and other details on the surface of the 6.7–day-old Moon. Saturn's rings are now tilted almost edge–on to our field of view, something that happens only every 15 years!

We are close to the peak of the annual Perseid Meteor Shower that occurs every August. The peak is spread out over several days, so we have a good chance of seeing some shooting stars streak by.

Location

Maturango Museum