Star Party to Feature Saturn, Ring Nebula

Stargazers will line up outside Westmont’s observatory Friday, June 17, beginning at 8 p.m. for the free, monthly public viewing with the college’s powerful Keck Telescope. Westmont serves as one of the observing sites for the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit (SBAU) every third Friday of the month, weather permitting. In case of inclement weather, please call the Telescope Viewing Hotline at (805) 565-6272 and check the Westmont website to see if the viewing has been cancelled.

Saturn will once again dominate the southern sky this month. Thomas Whittemore, Westmont physics instructor, says with clear skies we should be able to see the shadow of Saturn’s rings on the surface of the gas giant. “As Saturn moves through the constellation of Virgo, it may pass by many of Virgo’s stars,” he says. “Saturn will appear to lie close to the much more distant star, Porrima. We should be able to show to the public both Saturn and Porrima in the same field of view.”

The viewing, which usually lasts several hours, may also feature another popular celestial band, the Ring Nebula (M57). “Lying in Lyra is this spectacular planetary nebula, which actually has nothing to do with a planet, but is the lighted remains of a dying star’s atmosphere,” Whittemore says. “We should be able to discern color from this ghostlike doughnut with Westmont’s 24-inch telescope.”

With the coming of summer, many of the sky’s globular clusters are now coming into view.  “Among these is the great globular cluster, M13, in Hercules,” Whittemore says. “Lying some 26,000 light-years away, M13 is estimated to contain upwards of a million stars. Other globular cluster targets for the evening will be M3, M5 and M92.”

Members of the SBAU bring their own telescopes to Westmont for the public to gaze through. Free parking is available near Carr Field, home of the Warriors baseball team (map).