Public To Catch A Glimpse Of Jupiter

Westmont’s Carroll Observatory reopens for free public viewings Friday, Sept. 19, at dusk. Weather permitting, stargazers will look through the powerful Keck Telescope at Jupiter in the southern sky.

Thomas Whittemore, instructor of physics, says the moon will not be visible until late Friday night, creating better viewing conditions for deep space.

“We may also be able to see objects near the zenith such as the Ring Nebula in Lyra,” he says. “This is the remnants of a dying star, shedding its gaseous envelop into space. Similar to what will eventually happen to our sun, but in about four or five billion years.”

Whittemore says some globular clusters may be visible as the winter Milky Way starts to move higher and higher into the evening sky.

The Carroll Observatory is open to the public every third Friday of the month.