How about a star party in our area

I had a good time on the last Thursday of August. I had the occasion to attend the monthly meeting of the Platte Valley Astronomical Observers in Kearney. The PVAO is a group of like-minded folks who enjoy things astronomical.

The evening began when we set up our telescopes at about 7 p.m. to take advantage of a little bit of solar viewing before sunset. Our telescopes were equipped with special filters that blocked the overpowering light of the sun which would otherwise have damaged our vision. However, alas, there were no sunspots to view, just the plain, smooth, surface of the sun.

One thing I did enjoy was getting to look through a special H-alpha telescope, one especially designed for solar viewing. My filter renders the sun as white, other filters will present a nice blue color, but the H-alpha scope makes the solar surface a bright red with surface granulation easily visible, as well as some of the solar prominences -- the large arcs of gas that are expelled from the solar surface from time to time.

After the sun was out of the way we had the occasion to view Venus, but our attempt to locate Mercury and Mars were thwarted by a thin layer of upper level atmospheric clouds.

We also had a shot at bright Jupiter. Even though the sky was still overwhelmed by the setting sun, the largest planet in our solar system stood out like a beacon.

All four of the Galilean moons could be seen as bright pin pricks of light. The equatorial bands around the middle of the planet's surface were quite visible as well.

After the viewing there was a discussion of the recently held Nebraska Star Party, an event which I unfortunately was unable to attend. I was driven almost to envy with the descriptions of the clear, cloudless nights where the Milky Way could cast a shadow and the lack of any high wind or storms.

I don't recall any of the times I have attended the star party, and there have been several, where there was not either high wind or storms or both.

All of that got me to thinking of the possibilities of holding something similar in this area.

Where there could be an evening of viewing astronomical objects and fun while the weather still has the possibility of being warm. Guess I will have to think about that one.

SKY WATCH: Venus, Mars and Mercury are still forming a small triangle very low in the west about half-hour after sunset. The trio will be within six degrees of each other which means they will probably fit inside the field of view of most binoculars. By the 14th of the month Venus will join Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, the Maiden, again all will be very close to the western horizon.

On the 13th of the month, with clear skies and a good pair of binoculars or a small telescope you might be able to watch as the moon occults, or covers up, the tiny blue dot of the planet Neptune. It will be to the upper left of an almost full moon which will make it very difficult to find, especially since the moon will have just risen and will be in the soup of clouds along the eastern horizon.

Later in the evening, at about 7:15 MDT you might catch a glimpse of Neptune as it exits from being behind the moon on the upper right side. Again, the moon being almost full may blot out any possible sighting.

NEXT TIME: More astronomical blathering.