Sac State Planetarium

https://youtu.be/JFBjuE7QQHU Check out our brand new series! Astronomy 101! In our first video of our new Astro 101 series, we learn a bit about our neighbor planet Mars and some of the reasons that we have only sent robots to explore it so far. ... #Mars #astronomy #sacstateplanetarium

Today is the big day! The NASA Mars Rover Perseverance will arrive at the Red Planet and attempt a daring landing. The atmosphere on Mars is so thin that traditional parachutes are ineffective. What is a space agency to do? Use a sky crane of course! Tune in to the live stream at nasa.gov starting around 11:15 this morning. Landing is estimated to occur at 12:43 p.m.

Tomorrow afternoon the Sac State Department of Physics and Astronomy will host a special Colloquium that we are opening up to the public (via Zoom of course!). Dr. Raffaella Margutti will be speaking on "The Renaissance of Astrophysics" and exploring some of the new surveys and (hopefully!) discoveries that are on the horizon. The talk begins tomorrow (Thursday) at 4pm and interested parties can email [email protected] for the link and password.

Well last night the clouds rolled in and nobody in Sacramento had any kind of view of the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, commonly being referred to as the Christmas Star. But we got another shot at it tonight, and the skies were clear! The planets have already started to move apart from one another, but I still managed to get them in the same field of view in my little 130 mm reflecting telescope. Holding a smartphone up to the eyepiece is hardly the ideal way to take an image, but in a pinch it can work! ;-) Jupiter is the brighter dot on the right, with the four Galilean moons visible as well. Saturn is on the left, and while you can't really see the rings you can just barely tell that it is oblong in shape because of the rings.

Yesterday's solar eclipse, as seen from space! The GOES satellite system is a joint mission of NASA and NOAA. The images that make up this video were taken by a geostationary satellite in orbit 22,000 miles above the equator of the Earth. The shadow of the eclipse is visible as a dark spot moving from west to east (left to right in this image) across the southern part of South America (near the bottom of the image).

Spooky Astronomy News: This year, Halloween happens to fall on a full moon because obviously, it would in 2020. This fairly rare occurrence is more than just a reason to try and prank your neighbors, it also makes that night's moon a "Blue Moon." The term Blue Moon has come to refer to the second full moon in a single calendar month. This only happens on average once every couple of years, so it corresponds nicely with the English idiom "Once in a Blue Moon" which refers to something that doesn't happen very often. Because Halloween is October 31st, every time there is a full moon on Halloween it is a Blue Moon! But the last time this happened was back in 2001. Happy Halloween, and stay safe!

Are you ready for the meteor shower?! The most recent pass of Halley's Comet was in 1986, and it won't be back until 2061, but in a way, we get a chance every year to see a little bit of that famous celestial visitor, thanks to the Orionid meteor shower. Every year, in October, the Earth passes through the remnant trail of Halley's Comet, and the result is the Orionid meteor shower. The name comes from the fact that the meteors appear to be coming from the direction of the... constellation Orion, but the truth is that they have nothing at all to do with Orion or any of the stars in that constellation! It's all thanks to Halley's Comet! This year should be a pretty good showing for the Orionids, as the moon will be set during peak activity, offering dark skies and ideal viewing (especially if you can get away from city lights!). Peak viewing hours start around 1:00 AM and go until sunrise. Under ideal conditions, you might see as many as 15 to 30 meteors in an hour. The show should be best on Tuesday night and Wednesday night. #sacstateplanetarium #OrionidMeteorShower

As promised, a brief explanation of what "Mars Opposition" really means, with help from some stellar young students: https://youtu.be/2l0mEFSTMdk

Hello, Friends of the Planetarium! The planet Mars will be at opposition in less than a week, on October 13th. We will post a video this weekend detailing what this means, and the opportunity it provides. Stay tuned for the details! #sacstateplanetarium #marsopposition

Hello, Friends of the Planetarium! This Thursday, October 1 marks a fun double astronomical event you can observe just after sunset, which will be around 6:45. That night features a full moon, which will rise just as the sun is setting, in the exact opposite direction (as a full moon always does). At the same time, the planet Mercury will be experiencing its greatest eastern elongation. This means that you have a chance to spot the often difficult to see the planet. Mercury spends most of its time so close to the sun that we can never see it because it's only up during the day. But this Thursday after you've watched the beautiful full moon rise for a little bit, turn your eyes back towards where the sunset an hour ago, and you might be able to spot Mercury! https://media.giphy.com/media/Th6NKT8ej9ssw/giphy.gif

Hello, Friends of the Planetarium! It's hard to believe that it has been one whole year since we had the Grand Opening for the Sac State Planetarium. And what a year it has been! Check out this look back at our construction and first year, and stay with us as we look forward to reopening and bringing the universe to our little corner of Sacramento once again. https://www.youtube.com/watch

Today marks the 100 year anniversary of The Great Debate - a scientific showdown between two great minds in early 20th century astronomy. Learn more about this fascinating historical event by joining our planetarium director and taking a little trip back in time: https://youtu.be/tH-pDmtaaTA

PLEASE READ! ALL MARCH SHOWS HAVE BEEN CANCELED. We have received word from University administration that all shows and events at the Sacramento State Planetarium have been canceled until further notice. These cancellations cover all fourteen of our March public shows featuring Secrets of the Sun. We apologize for this inconvenience but hope that you understand the decision given the unique circumstances we currently find ourselves in. You will be issued a refund for th...e purchase price of all tickets you bought. This was certainly not our first choice, but we will follow the guidance of our University officials. We will miss having our planetarium filled with visitors. We will miss the thoughtful questions of high schoolers, the sheer joy of second graders, the unbounded energy of middle schoolers, and childlike excitement of grown adults. We look forward to our reopening, whenever that may be, and hope that perhaps we will still have the opportunity to see many of you at a show in the near future. Always remember, keep your eyes to the stars ! #stingersuptospace See more

"Secrets of the Sun" is back for another month of shows in March! If you missed out on getting tickets for February, this is your chance to see the Hottest Show around. Tickets go on sale this Thursday, the 27th, at 10:00 AM! https://www.csus.edu/administration-busi//planetarium.html

FRIENDLY REMINDER! Tickets for our February shows go live TODAY at 12pm noon! This show is sure to sell out quickly. Be sure to review some purchasing tips to be prepared when the clock strikes at 12pm! We can already feel the heat now! https://www.csus.edu/administration-busi//planetarium.html #secretsofthesun #stingersuptospace https://gph.is/1kKoOua

NEW ALERT!The month of February is here and we have a brand-new show for you all! We recently posted a hint to see if any of you could figure out what would be featured this month. If you haven’t guessed it by now, we will be exploring the most important star in the sky: our sun. Come learn all about this crucial astronomical neighbor that sustains life on Earth. Dive into some of the mysteries that still surround our star. Learn about the power, and danger, that the sun possesses. Journey with us, 93 million miles from home, as we explore the Secrets of The Sun! Click the link below for showtimes and dates! And remember, keep your eyes to the stars! #stingersuptospace https://www.csus.edu/administration-busi//planetarium.html

NEW ALERT! We are bringing you a brand new show in February! But we don’t want to give it away just yet. So here’s a hint: Our new show is going to be SO LARge! You are guaranteed to feel the heat! Stay tuned and always remember, keep your eyes to the stars! #stingersuptospace

The journey for our planetarium and the Tschannen Science Complex has truly been years in the making. Click below to see how we were finally able to make our debut for the academic year 2019-2020. https://vimeo.com/385297292