2020 Schedule - 2020 Schedule - 2020 Schedule - 2020 Schedule - 2020 Schedule - 2020 Schedule - 2020 Schedule - 2020 Schedule - 2020 Schedule ASTRONOMY CLUB of AKRON 2020 OBSERVATORY SCHEDULE 5031 Manchester Road, Akron, OH www.acaoh.org - The following events are open to the public. Please join us for stargazing and educational activities. Please arrive on time to avoid headlight distraction. - For notice of "impromptu star parties" not listed, send e-mail to ACAstarparty@att.net to request e-mail notification of unscheduled observing sessions. - Events will be cancelled if skies are cloudy. Always check website for star party status two hours before event. - This is an outdoor activity in an unheated environment. Nighttime temperatures drop rapidly, even during summer. A general rule of thumb is to dress for 15°F cooler than predicted nighttime low temperature. - Please respect those who set up their telescopes. Children should be supervised at all times. The observatory grounds are no place for toys or tomfoolery. - Please, No Smoking on observatory grounds. Smoke reacts with optical surfaces, damaging optical coatings. - Please, no use of cell phones or tablets in observatory (to preserve night vision). Event List Follows: April 18 at 8:15pm Venus is well placed for observing early, and then we'll view Ghost of Jupiter and the beautiful star cluster M37 through the 16"ťobservatory telescope and view Beehive Cluster through the 100mm wide field telescope. April 25 at 8:30pm Special Event: Messier Marathon at stay all night to observe all 110 Messier objects with ACA members. The Best Free Coffee in Akron will be brewing all night. May 16 at 9:00pm Sombrero Galaxy and galaxies M65, M66, M95, M96, M106, and NGC 4631 are well placed for observing. We'll view Melotte 111 through the 100mm wide field telescope and attach a spectroscope to one of our telescopes to view the spectrum of a star. May 23 at 9:00pm The Virgo Galaxy Cluster is well placed for observing. Come out to observe M87; a giant elliptical galaxy weighing one trillion solar masses with a 6 billion solar mass black hole at the center. Later we'll try to observe the farthest object within reach of the 16 inch observatory telescope: 3C273, a quasar that is 2.4 billion light-years distant and receding from us at 16% the speed of light. June 13 at 9:00pm Double Star Observing: We'll view 24 Coma Berenices, the Mizar-Alcor system, and Cor Caroli. An observing session and Sky Tour of the Spring Constellations will follow. June 20 at 9:00pm Come out to view globular clusters tonight. These star clusters contain tens of thousands of stars in an area less than a 100 light-years across. We'll examine M5, M53, M13, M92, M10, & M12 and discuss globular cluster classification. July 18 at 9:00pm Come out to view open cluster NGC6633, Wild Duck Cluster, Ring Nebula, M26 Star Cloud, and Swan Nebula using an OIII filter. July 25 at 9:00pm We'll be observing a 5-day old Moon. This is a great opportunity to see crater central peaks lit up by the grazing angle of the Sun, while the rest of the crater is in shadow. August 22 at 8:30pm See Jupiter's equatorial belts and Galilean Moons. Saturn's magnificent ring system is at 23 degree tilt as seen from Earth. We'll also view Coathanger asterism, Ring Nebula, Wild Duck Cluster, and open clusters M25 & M23. September 12at 8:00pm Saturn and Jupiter observing followed by Blinking Nebula, open clusters IC4665 & NGC6709, and globular clusters M71 & M15. Sky Tour of the Summer Constellations will follow. September 19at 7:45pm We'll be viewing celestial objects in the constellation Cygnus including open clusters M39 & M29, globular cluster M56, double star Albireo, and the Cygnus Star Cloud using the 100mm wide field telescope. October 10 at 7:15pm Planetary Nebula Night: Observe Ring Nebula, Cat's Eye Nebula, Blue Snowball Nebula, Blinking Nebula, Saturn Nebula, Blue Flash Nebula, and Herschel's Garnet Star. October 17 at 7:00pm Mars makes its closest approach to Earth on the 13th. Our observing list includes Andromeda Galaxy, Herschel's Double Cluster, and ET Cluster. We'll end our observing session with Mars. Check the Webpage often for announcements and Impromptu Observing Events when the weather clears during week days.