Public Programs and Calendar of Events

St. Ambrose University is hosting monthly star parties at the Menke Observatory on the following dates for summer 2008.

May 3.  Mars and Saturn will be prominent in the sky, and there is a rare chance to see Mercury low in the western sky just after sunset.  No moon tonight means excellent conditions for viewing deep-sky objects, such as star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies, and a few meteors from the Eta Aquarid shower might be visible later tonight.

June 7.  A crescent moon will be visible for the first couple of hours after sunset, after which Mars and Saturn will again be the most prominent objects in the sky, and the darkness will be perfect for deep-sky objects.

July 12.  The moon will be just past First Quarter tonight, making it the biggest attraction until at least midnight, and making deep-sky objects more difficult to see.  Mars and Saturn will be lower in the western sky now, but they'll also be unusually close together.  And now Jupiter begins rising in the east.

August 9.  Another First Quarter moon, and Mars and Saturn are even lower in the west just after sunset.  Jupiter, in the southeastern sky, the most prominent planet tonight.

September 6.  The moon is once again near First Quarter, although this time it's on the Crescent side of that phase, so it won't be quite as bright or up quite as long.  Mars is just about lost in the evening twilight and Saturn is completely gone now, leaving Jupiter as the only prominent planet tonight, about halfway up in the southern sky.

Each star party program is free, and visitors are welcome to bring their own telescopes or use the on-site scopes.  Call 563-333-6141 on the day of the event for a recorded message confirming whether the star party will take place or must be cancelled due to stormy weather.  If the weather is merely cloudy, the star party will still take place with a tour of the observatory and an opportunity for questions and answers with local astronomers.

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