While most college students have barely enough hours in the day,even the busiest of students can often find time to glance up atthe sky.
Four of the nine planets, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn arecurrently visible to the naked eye.
"They happen to be in a grouping" where people can see themtogether, said Joan Schmelz, professor of physics. "Although, ifthey aren't behind the sun, the same planets are always visible atnight."
When Saturn traveled to its closest point to Earth last year,The Pink Palace had 2,000 people come witness the event.
"Whenever there is something unusual happening, we get a highattendance," said Jim Greenhouse, superviser at the SharpePlanetarium located at The Pink Palace.
The Pink Palace hosts "Observing on the Lawn" on the last Fridayof each month.
"We get lots of questions," Greenhouse said. "Some people liketo learn about the sky, and others like to look at the planetsthrough telescopes while being told about the stars.
For some U of M students, the love of stars begins beforethey've taken their first astronomy class.
"When I was in elementary school, they took us out to see thestars through telescopes," said one U of M staff member. "Then, incollege I took an astronomy class because I had been interestedever since."
Drew Sanford may not be able to identify the planets orconstellations, but he said he still enjoys the spectacle.
There were more than 300 people at Observation on the Lawn atThe Pink Palace on Friday. "That's average," Greenhouse said.
Friday, Venus will cross the Pleiades star cluster, which ismade up nine main stars and 500 faint stars.
On April 22, the Lyrids meteor shower will peak, with up to 10meteors per hour and occasional outburst of 100 meteors ormore.
When it comes down to it, the night sky can be "pretty cool."Sanford said.
| PinkPalace Observation on the Lawn | ||
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April 23, 8 p.m. - 10 p.m. May 21, 8:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. |
Pink Palace Mansion Front Lawn
FREE admission |
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Star GazersCalendar
March 20 — Vernal Equinox April 3 —Venus crosses the Pleiades April 22 — Lyrids meteor shower peak May 25 — Mars passes 1.6 degrees from Saturn June 8 — Venus transits (passes in front of) the sun June 21 — Summer Solstice June 26 — Mercury pass es 2.1 degrees from Saturn July 1 — Cassini mission begins orbit of Saturn |
July 29 — Delta Aquarids
meteor shower peak Aug. 12 — Perseids mete or shower peak Sept. 22 — Autumnal Equinox Oct. 9 — Draconids mete or shower peak Oct. 14 —Partial solar eclipse visible from Russia, Alaska and the Pacific Ocean Oct. 26 —First targeted flyby of Titan by Cassini mission Oct. 28 —Lunar eclipse Nov. 3 —Taurids meteor shower peak |
Nov. 17 —Leonids mete
or shower peak Dec. 13 — Second Titan flyby by Cassini Dec. 13 — Geminids meteor shower peak Dec. 21 —Winter Solstice Dec. 22 — Ursids meteor shower peak Dec. 25 —Huygens probe scheduled for deployment onto Titan Source: NASA space cal endar, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at California Institute of Technology. |
