Planetarium Director: Ed Megill

NEWS & UPCOMING EVENTS

4/2/09

The First Quarter Moon occurs at 7:34 AM PDST.

4/3/09

Tonight we present our April "First Friday Night Sky" show. There will be no planetarium shows on Saturday April 4th or Sunday April 9th. For specific details about our "First Friday Night Sky" shows and other shows offered this school year see our public shows web page.

4/9/09

The Full Moon occurs at 7:56 AM PDST.

4/10/09

Today starts our third and final spring semester 2009 planetarium show "Black Hole Travel?" and runs through Sunday April 26th and again from Friday May 8th through Sunday May 10th. Friday, May 1st we will present our free "First Friday Night Sky" show for May. There will be no shows on Saturday May 2nd. And, on Sunday May 3rd is SRJC's annual "Day Under The Oaks" open house. On SRJC's 'Day Under The Oaks" open house the planetarium will present free one-half hour demonstration shows throughout the day. For specific details, dates, and times for these and other shows offered this school year see our public shows web page.

4/17/09

The Last Quarter Moon occurs at 6:36 AM PDST.

4/24/09

The New Moon occurs at 8:23 PM PDST.

5/1/09

Tonight we present our May "First Friday Night Sky" show. There will be no planetarium shows on Saturday May 2nd; and, on Sunday May 3rd is SRJC's "Day Under The Oaks" open house (see below for details). For specific details about our "First Friday Night Sky" shows and other shows offered this school year see our public shows web page.

5/1/09

The First Quarter Moon occurs at 1:44 PM PDST.

5/3/09

Today is SRJC's "Day Under The Oaks" open house. On "Day under The Oaks" the planetarium suspends any regular programing and presents one-half hour demonstrations shows throughout the day. The scheduled times for these demonstration shows are published and posted in our "Day Under The Oaks" literature. For specific details about our regular programing see our public shows web page.

5/8/09

The Full Moon occurs at 9:01 PM PDST.

5/8/09

This is the last weekend to see our third and final spring semester 2009 planetarium show "BLACK HOLE TRAVEL?". "BLACK HOLE TRAVEL?" concludes this Sunday, May 10, 2009. SRJC's public planetarium shows will resume in September of our fall 2009 semester. For specific details, dates, and times for our next and other planetarium shows offered this school year see our public shows web page.

5/17/09

The Last Quarter Moon occurs at 12:26 AM PDST.

5/24/09

The New Moon occurs at 5:11 AM PDST.

5/30/09

The First Quarter Moon occurs at 8:22 PM PDST.

6/7/09

The Full Moon occurs at 11:12 AM PDST.

6/15/09

The Last Quarter Moon occurs at 3:15 PM PDST.

6/20/09

The Summer Solstice occurs at 10:46 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.

6/22/09

The New Moon occurs at 12:35 PM PDST.

6/29/09

The First Quarter Moon occurs at 4:28 AM PDST.

7/7/09

The Full Moon occurs at 2:21 AM PDST.

7/15/09

The Last Quarter Moon occurs at 2:53 AM PDST.

7/21/09

The New Moon occurs at 7:37 PM PDST.

7/21/09

The First Quarter Moon occurs at 3:00 PM PDST.

8/5/09

The Full Moon occurs at 5:55 PM PDST.

8/12/09

August 12th – Perseid meteor shower. This year’s Perseid meteor shower is expected to peak about 11AM PDST on August 12th and just a day before August’s Last Quarter Moon. Therefore, not real good news for meteor shower observers. A Last Quarter Moon rises around midnight and sets around noon. This essentially means that a reasonably bright Moon will be in the sky anytime near the shower's expected best display. The best observing times would be in the early night hours, before moon-rise, on either the 11th or 12th. Each year 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.

8/13/09

The Last Quarter Moon occurs at 11:55 AM PDST.

8/20/09

The New Moon occurs at 3:02 AM PDST.

8/27/09

The First Quarter Moon occurs at 4:42 AM PDST.