College of San Mateo Planetarium

Although Sunday's lunar eclipse was clouded/rained out on campus, I still managed to take a few images between the clouds and raindrops from my Pacifica deck. Here are the five best ones from 9:18 PM to 10:36 PM. These were taken with my Canon T6i with a 150 - 600 mm Tamron lens.

There will be a planetarium show tomorrow at 7:30 and 8:30 PM. I will show the beautiful sights of the winter sky, including the Orion Nebula and the Pleiades. The full dome show will be "Black Holes- the Other Side of Infinity". Each show lasts ~ 45 to 50 minutes and is free to the public on a first come, first served basis. There is no setting aside of seats, each group that comes in must be together. Parking is free in Lot 5 or the student lot.

Comet Wirtanen is now visible, with binoculars. Tonight, it is located just below the Pleiades. It will look spherical, without a tail but is about the size of the full moon. If you have a DSLR camera, you can take an image of it. Just point your camera in the direction of the Pleiades with an 18-55mm lens, 15 to 20 seconds exposure, ISO 1600 and you should a decent image. Here is one I took a couple of nights ago with a longer focal length lens.

The Geminid Meteor shower peaks tonight! Just look anywhere in the sky from ~ 10 PM onward and you should some bright meteors. If you have a very dark sky, under ideal conditions, you would see ~ 100/hour. However, most of us live in cities or suburbs, with some light pollution. In that case, try to shield any streetlights from your view and you should see ~ 15/ hour. Of course, you could see more or less, depending upon your location. You will see more the later you look, however clouds may roll in ~ 12 midnight.

A very exciting event is coming to CSM on 10/20/18: A day of fun and learning

Don't forget to look for the Perseid meteor shower peaking late tonight/early Sunday morning and late tomorrow night/early Monday morning. Start looking ~ midnight anywhere in the sky. You will see the most near dawn. Although the meteors will appear to come from the northeast, which is where Perseus will be ~ midnight (the radiant), look anywhere in the sky. There will be no interference from the moon, since the phase is new. However, any lingering smoke and haze from the wildfires could hinder viewing. Try to go somewhere with minimal light pollution. The Clear Sky Clock says that the coast should be free from fog, so those in HMB and Pacifica may luck out tonight!

This is really cool!

Other planets have eclipses, too!

Come to our Family Science and Astronomy Festival next Saturday, October 8. There will be planetarium shows, cool demos by all of the science departments, activities for kids, a talk on gravitational waves, observational viewing of the Moon, and much more!

Imagine looking up in your sky and seeing not one, not two, but three stars - Proxima Centauri and Alpha Centauri A and B!!

Don't forget to look at the Perseids these next few nights. One of the better places to view here in the Bay Area is Vista Park located on Crestview Drive just south of Club drive in San Carlos. Some astronomers from SMCAS may also be there.

I thank one of my students, Charmaine Bramwell Bridgens, for this great, updated powers of 10 video. It starts off in the SF Bay Area.

Juno will soon be uncovering Jupiter's secrets. Stay tuned!