Planetarium Director: Ed Megill

NEWS & UPCOMING EVENTS

6/18/10

The First Quarter Moon occurs at 9:29 PM PDST.

6/21/10

The Summer Solstice occurs at 4:28 AM 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 about the 21st of December.

6/26/10

The Full Moon occurs at 4:30 AM PDST.

7/4/10

The Last Quarter Moon occurs at 7:35 AM PDST.

7/6/10

Today at 3:00 AM PDST the Earth reaches its most distant point (slightly more than 94.5 million miles) from the Sun in its annual elliptical 365.25 day orbit. This distant point is called aphelion (“ap” meaning far or distant and “helion” meaning Sun). Earth is closest to the Sun (perihelion, “peri” meaning near or close) in early January.

7/11/10

The New Moon occurs at 12:40 PM PDST.

7/18/10

The First Quarter Moon occurs at 3:11 AM PDST.

7/25/10

The Full Moon occurs at 6:36 PM PDST.

8/2/10

The Last Quarter Moon occurs at 9:59 PM PDST.

8/9/10

The New Moon occurs at 8:08 PM PDST.

8/16/10

The First Quarter Moon occurs at 11:14 AM PDST.

8/24/10

The Full Moon occurs at 10:05 AM PDST.