ASTRONOMY CLUB of AKRON 2019 OBSERVATORY SCHEDULE 5031 Manchester Road, Akron, OH www.acaoh.org – The following events are open to the public. Please join us for stargazing and educational activities. Please arrive on time to avoid headlight distraction. – For notice of “impromptu star parties” not listed, send e-mail to ACAstarparty@att.net to request e-mail notification of unscheduled observing sessions. – Events will be cancelled if skies are cloudy. Always check website for star party status two hours before event. – This is an outdoor activity in an unheated environment. Nighttime temperatures drop rapidly, even during summer. A general rule of thumb is to dress for 15 degrees cooler than predicted nighttime low temperature. – Please respect those who set up their telescopes. Children should be supervised at all times. The observatory grounds are no place for toys or tomfoolery. – Please, No Smoking on observatory grounds. Smoke reacts with optical surfaces, damaging optical coatings. – Please, no use of cell phones or tablets in observatory (to preserve night vision). April 6 – 8:15pm View the beautiful star clusters of Auriga through the 16” observatory telescope and view Beehive Cluster through the 100mm wide field telescope. Open clusters M46 & M47 are also on the observing list. April 27 – 8:30pm Special Event: Messier Marathon – stay all night to observe all 110 Messier objects with ACA members. The Best Free Coffee in Akron will be brewing all night. May 4 – 8:45pm Galaxies of the Virgo Cluster and Coma Cluster are well placed for observing and we should be able to catch some meteors from the Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower that peaks on May 6th. May 25 – 9:00pm We’ll examine the Mizar-Alcor star system and double star 24 Coma Berenices, an Albireo look-a-like. An observing session and Sky Tour of the Spring Constellations will follow. June 1 – 9:00pm Come out to view globular clusters tonight. These star clusters contain tens of thousands of stars in an area less than a 100 light-years across. We’ll examine M5, M53, M13, M92, and M3 and discuss globular cluster classification. June 29 – 9:00pm Jupiter observing tonight! See Jupiter’s equatorial belts, possibly some festoons on the Jovian Disk, and the Galilean moons orbiting the planet. July 20 – 9:00pm Jupiter is first on the observing list, followed by open cluster NGC6633, Wild Duck Cluster, Ring Nebula, Swan Nebula, and M26 Star Cloud. July 27 – 9:00pm Planet Viewing Tonight– We’ll be observing Jupiter & Saturn while stars fall from the sky as the Delta Aquariid Meteor Shower peaks tonight! August 31 – 8:30pm Come out this evening to view a variety of celestial objects starting with the Coathanger asterism followed by Ring Nebula, Wild Duck Cluster, and open clusters M25 & M23. Then we’ll catch some butterflies netting Butterfly Cluster M6 and Black Swallowtail Butterfly Cluster IC4665. September 21– 8:00pm Saturn is first on the observing list, followed by Dumbbell Nebula, open cluster NGC6709, and globular clusters M56, M71, and M15. September 28– 7:30pm This evening we’ll be viewing open clusters M52, M29, and M39 as well as double star Albireo. And, we’ll have a Sky Tour of the Summer Constellations October 19 – 7:00pm Tonight we’ll observe Ring Nebula, Cat’s Eye Nebula, Blue Snowball Nebula, Blinking Nebula, Saturn Nebula, Blue Flash Nebula, and Herschel’s Garnet Star. October 26 – 7:00pm Classical Musical Night: Come out to listen to the best musical selections of Mozart, Bach, & Vivaldi by which to gaze at the stars. On the observing list are Herschel’s Double Cluster, Andromeda Galaxy, and ET Cluster. November 11 – 7:30am – 1:00pm Transit of Mercury – This is a solar event starting in the morning at 7:35am. This event requires special equipment set up by our group to avoid permanent eye injury. See our website for observing location.