Laws Observatory

It's Christmas Time so colorful experimentation is certainly in order. This image of The Andromeda Galaxy was made from several RAW files taken at Wildhaven Observatory last evening. Roger Clark algorithms were used by Friend of the Observatory Noah Frick-Alofs to create this rendition. The galaxy is nearly at the Zenith as it gets dark this time of year.

Tonight's Moon, through some trees, about 7:15 pm. Just missed that jet! Go to Full Screen for the port wing of that airliner.

After a long hiatus we may be in for some increased Solar activity in the coming days. From NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, and SPACEWEATHER, come these images, all no more than 24-hours old. We might be in for some auroras in a few days, under a shrinking Moon! Click on the individual images for more description.

Coming up on Saturday, a Halloween FULL mini-Moon! Yes, this year, this awful year, the Moon is FULL right on Halloween, at a time when few will be out to enjoy the view. Under ordinary circumstances we would be having the Haunted Observatory this evening, weather notwithstanding. Conditions will be MUCH better on Saturday, sunny and with a high of 60-degrees F.. Click on the individual images for more description.

When the Moon gets out of the way in a few days this sky object, the Orion Nebula, will be in prime position, climbing the eastern sky in the evening. This image was made last evening from Laws and is a combination of 19 frames, most of them 10-seconds long at ISO-1600. Processing by friend of the observatory Noah Frick-Alofs. Go to Full Screen for the best detail!

TONIGHT! As twilight deepens, say 7:15 pm, this spectacular Solar System Trio will start its amazing show in the SSW! The Moon is 5-days-old and near its best, with some "Earthshine" still visible on the "dark" side. Jupiter and Saturn are still bright, not far past opposition and so very well placed. Down and to the right are the stars of the famous Sagittarius "Teapot," one of our Summer signposts. Conditions should be perfect here in Mid-Missouri so step outside and take a look, bringing binoculars for an even better view! We don't see a combo like this very often.

Problems with FB today. We'll try to get a solar image up by using a work-around.

In the southwest tonight are the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn, now closing up fast on the way to their December 21st "Great Conjunction". To the ancient Sumerians and Babylonians these conjunctions of the two slowest-moving planets, taking place every 20 years, marked the fall of Kings or end of dynasties, or the onset of plagues. Luckily, nothing like that applies today! Go to Full Screen for the best detail.

Tomorrow evening, as it's getting dark, we will have a spectacular grouping of the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn! It will be Summer for one last day and then will come a warm evening to watch three (actually four, with Mars) of the brightest objects in the sky glide by. Click on the individual images for more description.

Mars last evening, on opposition night, through the 16-inch Celestron here at Laws. We were using Dix Pettey's Neodymium filters plus crossed-polarizers visually and the planet was very sharp at moments of good seeing. For photography, we were battling the seeing most of the evening as often happens on campus. If not for this medical problem we would have been open to students and, well, everyone, for at least the last three evenings, as we have been for special astronomical events for decades.