Planetarium Director: Ed Megill

NEWS & UPCOMING EVENTS

04/18/08

This weekend starts our third and final spring semester 2008 planetarium show "Our Star the Sun." "Our Star The Sun" runs through Sunday, May 25, 2008 (There will be no regular public shows, only half-hour demonstration shows, on Sunday May 4th, SRJC's "Day Under The Oaks" open house). For specific details, dates, and times for this and other shows offered this school year see our public shows web page.

04/20/08

The Full Moon occurs at 3:25 AM PDST.

04/28/08

The Last Quarter Moon occurs at 7:12 AM PDST.

05/04/08

Today is SRJC's "Day Under The Oaks" campus wide open House. The planetarium will be presenting only half-hour demonstration show on Day Under The Oaks. However, as part of the celebration the Sonoma County Astronomical Society and Robert Ferguson Observatory will have available safe solar viewing through various solar telescopes. Come join in the fun of SRJC's Day Under The Oaks.

05/05/08

The New Moon occurs at 5:18 AM PDST.

05/11/08

The First Quarter Moon occurs at 8:47 PM PDST.

05/19/08

The Full Moon occurs at 7:11 PM PDST.

05/23/08

This is the last weekend to see our third and final spring semester 2008 planetarium show "Our Star The Sun." "Our Star The Sun" concludes this Sunday, May 25, 2008. The Planetarium will be closed for public shows until September, our Fall 2008 semester. In June of this year we will update the public shows web page to reflect the Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 school year public show schedule.

05/27/08

The Last Quarter Moon occurs at 7:57 PM PDST.

06/3/08

The New Moon occurs at 12:23 PM PDST.

06/10/08

The First Quarter Moon occurs at 8:04 AM PDST.

06/18/08

The Full Moon occurs at 10:30 AM PDST.

06/20/08

The Summer solstice occurs today at 5:00 PM PDST. "Sol" refers to the Sun and "stice" means to stand still. Each day before the Summer Solstice the Sun appears a little higher in the sky at noon. The Sun’s altitude at Noon on the Summer Solstice, as seen from Sonoma County, is 75 degrees above the southern horizon. It also rises some 30 degree North of East and sets some 30 degrees North of West. This results in the Sun being above the horizon for 14.5 hours and below for 9.5 hours giving Sonoma County its long warm summer days. After the Summer Solstice the Sun appears a little lower in the noon-day sky each day and rises & sets further South until the Winter solstice

06/18/08

The Last Quarter Moon occurs at 5:10 AM PDST.

07/2/08

The New Moon occurs at 7:19 PM PDST.

07/9/08

The First Quarter Moon occurs at 9:35 PM PDST.

07/18/08

The Full Moon occurs at 12:59 AM PDST.

07/25/08

The Last Quarter Moon occurs at 11:42 AM PDST.

08/1/08

The New Moon occurs at 3:12 AM PDST.

08/8/08

The First Quarter Moon occurs at 1:20 PM PDST.

08/12/08

Late tonight (around 3:00 AM PDST August 13th) the Perseid meteor shower should peak. This year’s peak occurs 4 days after August’s first Quarter Moon. Therefore, the Gibbous Moon sets about the time of the expected peak, this is not good news for meteor shower observers. We may expect to see only the brighter of the possible 75 meteors per hour often observed during this display. Each year at this time the Perseid meteor shower results from planet Earth crashing through the debris from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. As the small pieces of debris slam into Earth’s upper atmosphere and burn up, they cause the atmosphere to fluoresce and we see a streak of light called a meteor.

08/16/08

The Full Moon occurs at 2:16 PM PDST.

08/23/08

The Last Quarter Moon occurs at 4:49 PM PDST.

08/30/08

The New Moon occurs at 12:58 PM PDST.