UPDATE: In all, 24 people of various ages shared views of Jupiter and Earth’s Moon over the course of the evening. The Moon’s brightness drown out dimmer objects but views of its surface thrilled and delighted visitors.
What better way to celebrate winter’s end and de-stress for Tax Day than to enjoy a look at a beautiful night sky? While winter’s end and Tax Day are certain, we can only hope the sky will be clear the night of April 16 as we host our first Open Night of 2016. Hours are 9:00 to 11:00 PM, a late start due to Daylight Saving Time.
Given clear sky, two stunning sights of the night sky await us: first, the intriguing waxing Gibbous Moon; a little later, brilliant Jupiter only a month past its closest approach this year! Given time and visibility, we will also seek out M44 the Beehive open star cluster, and M13: the Great Globular Cluster of constellation Hercules.
No reservations are required and there is no admission fee for observatory public nights. Cloudy skies at the starting time cancel the event and, in that case, the observatory will not open.
The Observatory is located on Wakefield Road (Rt. 82) less than a quarter of a mile west of Route 700 in Hiram. There is no parking at the Observatory. Visitors may park on permissible side streets near the Post Office, a short distance east of the observatory.
Stephens Memorial Observatory 