Observatory Schedule of Events for 2018 (text version - the PDF version has considerably more information. If possible, we recommend you download and print that one instead) March 17 – 7:45pm View the Great Orion Nebula & the beautiful star clusters of Auriga through the 16” observatory telescope and view Pleiades, Hyades, & Beehive Cluster through the 100mm wide field telescope. Sky Tour: Winter Constellations April 7 – 8:00pm Special Event: Messier Marathon – stay all night to observe all 110 Messier objects with ACA members. Best Free Coffee in Akron will be brewing all night. April 14 – 8:00pm Catch a glimpse of Venus at star party start and then observe Eskimo Nebula, Ghost of Jupiter, and galaxies in the constellation Leo. May 12 – 8:30pm We’ll examine the Mizar-Alcor star system with the 100mm wide field telescope and then close-up with 16” observatory telescope to view optical & visual doubles. Observing session will follow. May 19 – 8:45pm The Virgo Galaxy Cluster is well-placed for observing. Come out to observe M87; a giant elliptical galaxy weighing a trillion solar masses with a 6 billion solar mass black hole at the center. Sky Tour: Spring Constellations June 9 – 9:00pm Jupiter observing tonight! See Jupiter’s equatorial belts, possibly some festoons on the Jovian Disk, and the Galilean moons orbiting the planet. June 16 – 9:00pm Jupiter is first on the observing list. The Great Hercules Cluster is located near zenith. This is perhaps the best globular cluster for northern hemisphere observers. Saturn is rising in the east and will close out our observing session. July 7 – 9:00pm The Ring Nebula is a stunning sight in the 16” observatory telescope; placed in the Milky Way, observers can see the nebula set in a field rich with stars. July 14 – 8:45pm Planet Night – Observe Venus at star party start. Jupiter and Saturn are well-placed during the observing session. Mars rises late and will close out our event. August 4 – 8:45pm Mars Event – Mars makes its close approach to Earth and appears nearly as large as it ever gets. Observe Martian surface features! Venus observing early, followed by Jupiter and Saturn observing; then our featured planet Mars! September 1– 8:15pm The sky is filled with globular clusters and we’ll be observing many of them tonight. Also, view the Coathanger star cluster and M26 star cloud through the 100mm wide field telescope. September 8– 8:00pm The constellation Sagittarius hosts many Messier Objects and we’ll try to find all of them tonight; including, the Butterfly Cluster that we’ll view with observatory telescope & 100mm wide field telescope. Sky Tour: Summer Constellations October 6 – 7:45pm Planetary Nebulae Night: Ring Nebula, Cat’s Eye Nebula, Blue Snowball, Blue Flash Nebula, Saturn Nebula, & Blinking Nebula. Also, view Herschel’s Garnet Star. October 13 – 7:45pm Classical Musical Night: Listen to the best musical selections of Mozart, Bach, & Vivaldi by which to gaze at the stars. And view craters, mountains, & seas on a 5-day old Moon. ET Cluster, Andromeda Galaxy, Herschel’s Double Cluster are on observing list. Uranus observing will close our event.