Observing Schedule page of the CSI Astrophysical Observatory

NAVIGATION

Faculty and Staff

International Astronomical Union Observatory Code #294

"See The Sky At CSI"!

CSI OBSERVATORY SCHEDULE (see below)

GENERAL OBSERVING INFORMATION WEB PAGE

WE WELCOME YOU!

Please Read The Following Notice if
you Plan To Attend An Observing Program.

For Safety and Health reasons you should read all of this information that follows

The observatory is funded by NASA and the NSF and commissioned by the International Astronomical Union Minor Planet section to undergo a Research Program (follow this link for information) to track, recover and undertake discovery of Near Earth Objects (Asteroids and Comets).

The observatory will be open to the general public and college community approximately once per month during the Fall, Spring and Summer Sessions and on special celestial events. There is no charge but donations are always appreciated.

Observing Sessions are offered on the dates listed below on clear days and evenings. . Evening observing run till about 11:00 PM (it is suggested that you arrive no later than about 10:15 PM to observe).

REFER OCCASIONALLY TO THE SCHEDULE BELOW BECAUSE RAIN DATES AND ADDITIONAL SESSIONS AND CHANGES ARE ADDED FROM TIME TO TIME.

Travel Directions are on the left panel. OR LINKS FOLLOW Directions to the College of Staten Island. CSI campus MAP

The observatory is located next to the track with access via Parking lot 6 and it looks like this

Students Please Note:Extra Observing earn you significant extra credit in your lecture classes. Be sure to bring forms from the OBSERVING FORM LINK or removed from your laboratory manual. Please note the many observing opportunities listed and linked below the schedule and in the extra credit opportunities link found to the left on the main page!

Rules for the enjoyment and safety

(at any observation place)

1. Dress warm-There is no heat in the observatory (Dress extra warm since you may be online for awhile!).

2. No cell phone lights or flashlights-use the red lights of the observatory or a red light flashlight for writing to preserve yours and your neighbors night vision. You will be in a dark (red at the observatory) environment designed to open your pupils to the max to see the details of the heavens. Once you look at a "white" light you will lose this "night" vision you obtained and it will take twenty minutes to regain it!

3- Park cars with headlights facing away from the observatory. See Rule 2 above.

4- Mosquito season please dress appropriately and bring a spray.

5- Don't travel alone!

Please cooperate to make the observatory experience the best it can be for all parties.

If you are unsure of the weather and want to know if we will be observing, please call the observatory

ONE HOUR BEFORE THE SCHEDULED TIME at 718-982-3260

MOSTLY Clouds, Rain, Snow, Extreme Cold (dropping below freezing), etc. will cancel a public event. If in doubt call the above number as stated!

WILL WE OPEN? CHECK OUT THE SKY TONIGHT BY THE FOLLOWING CHART ESPECIALLY CLOUD COVER to get our forecast by A. Danko of the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC)

INFORMATION ON HOW TO READ THIS SKY CLOCK CLICK HERE

Current Observatory and Events Schedule

(SUBJECT TO CHANGE PLEASE REFER TO REGULARLY)

PLEASE SEE OTHER OBSERVING OPPORTUNITIES BELOW THE CSI SCHEDULE

STUDENTS: PRINT SOME OBSERVING FORMS FROM HERE BEFORE YOU COME TO THE OBSERVATORY: OBSERVING FORM LINK

Observations in general, when the opportunity arises (Positions in the sky, time of night etc) we observe celestial objects like: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Planetary Nebula (dying stars), The Orion Nebula (stellar nursery), Andromeda Galaxy, Open Galactic Cluster (regions of young stars born together) and Globular Clusters( ancient stars groups almost going back to the Big Bang), double star systems, and individual stars like Red and Blue giants.

Details of typical celestial objects we observe in and out of the solar system are described below after these dates

Date-Time(PM) and Highlights

Rain/Clouds cancel an event

call 718-982-3260 one hour before event only if

weather is questionable

Typical targets we will observe include Deep sky objects listed by season next, as well as, the Moon, visible planets and sometimes comets

Spring and Fall targets follows, as well as, details on targets after the calendar schedule

SOME SPRING TARGETS

See details on objects below the schedule that follows

DEEP SKY objects

:Orion Nebula (stellar nursery)-M42; h & c Double Star Cluster in Perseus; Open star clusters M35 or M36; Globular clusters M3 & M13; The Eskimo Nebula-a planetary nebula NGC2392;The Owl Cluster (also called ET) in Cassiopeia NGC 457; Double star Gamma Andromadae called Almach (one star is golden the other bluish); Pleiades cluster (SUBURU-binocular view); stars Betelgeuse (Red Giant) and Rigel;

and our Moon and any Planets that are visible

Day time Solar Observing

SOME FALL TARGETS

See details on objects below the schedule that follows

DEEP SKY objects:

M13 Hercules Globular cluster; M11 open cluster (wild duck); M57 Ring Planetary Nebula; Double star Albireo ( Beautiful ); M27 Dumbbell Nebula; M15 globular star cluster; , M31 Andromeda galaxy; Pleiades cluster (SUBURU-binocular view), Orion Nebula (stellar nursery), Beehive cluster (Binocular view) h & c Double Star Cluster in Perseus; Bright Stars Arcturus(red), Vega(blue),

and our Moon and any Planets that are visible,

Day time Solar Observing

NOTE: THE SUN IS AT MAXIMUM ACTIVITY

Schedule follows

observing staff helping in the session are listed below-Prof Irving Robbins

( I will be at all sessions)

Thursday June 6 9:00 PM to 10:30 PM

Observe with Bill LaCurtis

Saturn, Star Clusters

Thursday June 13 8:30 PM to 10:30 PM

Observe with Bill LaCurtis

Great Crescent Moon, Planet Saturn

Thursday June 18 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM

Solar observing with Irv Robbins

NOTE: THE SUN IS AT MAXIMUM ACTIVITY

SPECIAL ALERT FOR AUGUST

THE OBSERVATORY WILL NOT BE OPEN FOR THIS EVENT
PERSEIDS METEOR SHOWER

August 11-12 Perseids Meteor Shower One of the best to see. up to 60 per hour

peaks the late evening of August 11 and morning of August 12..very best after midnight

It helps to have a beach chair in a dark location, just lay back and look upward, a companion helps, its a romantic setting.

Hot chocalate and light blanket if its chilly. Can be a great show especially a few hours before the Sun rises.

Some DETAILS on Celestial Objects we observe

MOON: when the moon is not full then the dividing line of day and night (called the Terminator) gives us long shadows that help us explore the mountains, craters and maria (seas) of the surface. Usually when we observe the moon we look at two views. An overall view as if we were half way there and an astronaut view, as if we were over the surface.

GLOBULAR CLUSTERS: Ancient satellite objects of our galaxy containing millions of early stars( simple chemistry hence unlikely to have planets) and we will explore ones like M3, M13 and M5 (M stands for a comet hunter named Messier who noted cloudy like objects that might confuse those looking for comets).

OPEN STAR CLUSTERS: Our galaxy has many regions of new star birth. Some we will examine are M11, known as the Wild Duck Cluster, a large group of "Teenage" Stars, as well as M35, M36, Double Cluster in Perseus (NGC 869) ORION Nebula which is a stellar nursery of new born stars. M37 Open clusters in Auriga, Binocular views of Pleiades and Beehive clusters

PLANETARY NEBULAE: In old age some stars to stabilize the nuclear reactions in their core throw off their outer atmosphere which expand out at great speed (good bye to any planets in the system). We will examine the RING NEBULAE and others ( these are called planetary since early observers thought the disk shaped appearance might be a planet).

DOUBLE STARS: One third of all stars have companions and we will examine the some of the beautiful system like Albereo containing a blue and gold companion looking like colorful diamonds in space. double star gamma Andromedae, ( a beautiful blue and gold pair)

COMETS: Chunks of ice and carboneous material left over from our Solar System's birth when approaching the sun (about earths distance) the combined Solar wind (particles mostly Hydrogen shooting off the sun) and the Pressure of Sunlight start to break down these "Dirty Snowballs" usually into a double tail structure. Comets can appear in the sky for quite some time and a number of them broke up some major battles in ancient history because the soldiers were afraid that the gods had sent a bad omen.

GALAXIES: Systems of Billions of stars. Our Milky Way galaxy and The ANDROMEDA GALAXY contain over 150 billion star systems. (NOTE: Solar systems are stars with planets) Galxies appear in the telescope as a "fuzzy cotton ball". The light from Andromeda galaxy our nearest spiral galaxy to our milky way galaxy ends its existence in your eye after traveling for 2 million years to get to us.

PLANET VENUS: Galileo became convinced the Sun is the center of the known universe of his time by watching the type of phases Venus appeared in. We can see Venus in Gibbous (more than 1/2 in sunshine), quarter and crescent which is when Venus is closest to us and hence the most brilliant Venus is crescent shaped.

PLANET JUPITER will be very bright, a good time to observe it, in the southern sky. We will see the belts and zones on Jupiters surface which are High and Low pressure zones spread over the entire planet since it rotates once every 10 hours and 11 earths can fit across it's diameter.

GALILEAN MOONS: We will also see the four main moons of Jupiter (each is almost a planet, two are a big a mercury and two as big as our moon, one IO has the most active Volacanos in the Solar system and Europa is on NASA's list for potential life since it is a world whose surface is all ice and under which is a warm ocean. The Galilean moons are so named, since Galileo became convinced that the Earth moves around the Sun, since it was believed, at the time, that if the Earth moved it would lose the Moon! Jupiter moved and carried it's moons with it, thus, strong evidence for Galileo that the Earth's movement would not lose the moon, The Phases of Venus then convinced him that the Earth moves about the sun and is not the center of the Universe, his stating such almost cost him his life.( Check out the trial of Galileo on the web if history interests you).

PLANET SATURN famous for its rings (Jupiter,Uranus and Neptune also have rings but are only visible in our images taken by passing space craft). We also can see a few of it's moons especially Titan the largest one in the solar system which has an atmosphere and shows signs of rivers and oceans of liquid methane.

Planets URANUS And NEPTUNE will also be observable in our telescope.

OTHER OBSERVING OPPORTUNITIES in the NY-NJ Area FOLLOW

Click HERE for more information FOR student OBSERVING AND EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES

OTHER OBSERVING OPPORTUNITIES

The link below lists other Observing Session sites within the five boroughs that are graciously offered by the Amateur Astronomers Association of NY (AAA). Information on on these sites and Observatories in nearby New Jersey can be found by visiting their web sites for more information.

follow this link

LINK TO "HOW TO OBSERVE" AND some details for Observatory sites in NY and NJ

IF YOU HAVE YOUR OWN TELESCOPE AND WANT TO PLAN WHAT TO SEE IN THE SKY THIS EVENING CHECK OUT THE EXCELLENT SITE: "TONIGHT'S SKY"

GENERAL UPCOMING EVENT CALENDARS

See lists at the next links and other Observing Session sites below

Link to ATT-General Astronomical Events Calendar (Meteor Showers, Eclipses, Solstices, Equinox, etc)

Link to the International Meteor Organization for their Meteor Shower Calendar with details on each shower.

Return to Observatory's

Home Page!

College of Staten Island
~ City University of New York ~
Astrophysical Observatory
2800 Victory Boulevard (Bldg.6N)
Staten Island, New York 10314
Voice: 718-982-3260
© 2005