WILLIAMS – The long range forecast shows mostly clear for the Friday night. So the star gazing sponsored by the Coconino County Astronomical Society should be good. The viewing will be held at the field on Route 66 across from Rod’s Steak House from 7 to 9 pm. Everyone is welcome to bring their own telescope or use their equipment for the viewing. You can even bring binoculars and the Society will show you how you can use them for some good viewing.
Tag Archives: Coconino Astronomical Society.
Coconino Astronomical Society star party tomorrow
WILLIAMS – The monthly Star Party sponsored by the Coconino Astronomical Society will be held tomorrow. The star gazing event will run from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the natural area across the street from Rod’s Steak House and the Laundry. Telescopes will be set up for everyone to enjoy, but you are welcome to bring your own and/or binoculars. They recommend a folding chair or blanket, as well.
Star Party set for Friday
Photo courtesy of CAS web site.
Coconino Astronomical Society viewing May 9th.
Our source informed us late tonight that the viewing by the Coconino Astronomical Society is apparently next Friday, May 9 at the same times. There will be a slight interference from a sliver of sunlight, but it will be dark enough for some great viewing.
We apologize for any inconvenience this error may have caused.
You can do a sky viewing of your own at any time, however. You can see some pretty amazing things even with a simple pair of binoculars. You only have to travel as far as the Santa Fe Dam, for example, to find a dark enough area for a viewing.
You might even have a good viewing area in your back yard.
View the heavens Friday
You will not see this.
The Society held a viewing last month in the same location and hopes to make this a monthly event. Tourist and residents of Williams are invited to come tour the skies.
The group picked this day because the brightness of the moon will not interfere with the viewing of other heavenly bodies. The group donates their telescopes and time to interest people in the science of astronomy.
“Blood moon” all the rage tonight.
Schematic diagram of the shadow cast by the Earth. Within the central umbra shadow, the Moon is totally shielded from direct illumination by the Sun. In contrast, within the penumbra shadow, only a portion of sunlight is blocked. – Wikipedia
Coconino Astronomical Society flier from Fred Espanak’s web site.
NASA is even promoting a live stream of the event if it is too chilly for you or if the cloud coverage in your area causes a problem.
Coconino Astronomical Society flier from Fred Espanak’s web site.
According to NASA, seeing four complete lunar eclipses in a row is very rare. The skies were tetrad-free from 1600 to 1900. But in the 21st century, there will be many.
What’s even stranger is that Americans have a front row seat.
“The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the USA,” NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak told CNN.
According to the Society flier the eclipse can be viewed with the naked eye with no special equipment required. Binoculars might give a better view of the event.
An eclipse of the moon can only take place during the full moon phase when the moon passes through some portion of the shadow of the Earth. The shadow consists of two parts; the penumbra and umbra. It is when the moon passes through the umbra portion that the earth blocks all light from the sun. That is the type of eclipse we will see with the tetrad.
The event begins at about 10:58 tonight when a partial eclipse begins. The total eclipse should bet at 12:07 tomorrow morning. The moon will be eclipsed until around 1:25 with another partial eclipse ending at 2:33 am.
The Coconino Astronomical Society promotes taking advantage of the dark skies of Arizona to view astronomical events. They have a private, two-acre viewing area two-miles north of Williams provided for CAS members and their guests.
They group has recently been attempting to set up monthly viewing sessions inside Williams. Even within the lighted city the session this month provided remarkable views of Jupiter and four of the moons. Later in the summer Saturn will be visible including the amazing rings surrounding it.