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Merrimack Observatory |
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| Lat 42.67N, Lon 71.12W |
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Merrimack Observatory |
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| Lat 42.67N, Lon 71.12W |
| Observatory Status: |
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Observatory status was last updated by Jim Koerth on 1/4/2006 at 10:00 AM.
Status of Public Observing for Wednesday Jan. 4, 2006: AT 10:00 AM THE FORECAST FOR THIS EVENING IS CALLING FOR CLOUDY OVERCAST CONDITIONS AND IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT WE WILL BE OPENING. IF THE FORECAST CHANGES I WILL UPDATE THE STATUS AROUND 5:00 PM, OTHERWISE WE WILL BE CLOSED. The observatory is normally open every CLEAR Wednesday from 7-10PM. The 20-inch Ritchey-Cretien reflector has returned to the observatory, and offers excellent views of deep sky objects. |
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What's Up Tonight?
Mars with its closest approach to earth on Nov. 7 still presents a nice view (a mere 35 million miles!) until the year 2018. Mars is visible all night till 3a.m., but best views are when it is higher in the sky. Recent dust clouds and storms have obscured some surface features but Mars still is worth looking at! M31 The Great Andromeda Galaxy, our nearest galactic neighbor will be well positioned all evening. Other objects we may view tonight include: M15 Pegasus Cluster M57, the famous Ring Nebula in Lyra M27 Dumbell planetary nebula. The ET (phone home!) cluster, NGC457 in Cassiopeia. LATE: M42 Orion Nebula after 9:00. Saturn rises at 10:30 but will not be in favorable position until later. The following information is provided for Andover Wednesday 21 December 2005 Universal Time - 5h SUN Begin civil twilight 06:39 Sunrise 07:12 Sun transit 11:43 Sunset 16:14 End civil twilight 16:46 MOON Moonrise 21:02 on preceding day Moon transit 04:09 Moonset 11:04 Moonrise 22:05 Moonset 11:23 on following day Phase of the Moon on 21 December: waning gibbous with 69% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated Venus is the bright "star" in the West(Constellation Capricornus) Mars rises in Aries at 1:04p.m. on 12/21 Saturn rises in Cancer at 7:19p.m. on 12/21 Consult this page for further observatory updates, or call the observatory phone at: 978 837-5011 |
