Jupiter will be closest to the earth tonight. Go outside tonight and see something special

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by Unsettomati

Several points:

1) There's nothing particularly special about the specific date of planetary opposition. It's still 400+ million miles away. The difference of a day or two either way won't make any detectable viewing difference.

2) This happens roughly once a year - it's not a once-in-a-lifetime event.

3) Arizona's skies are most certainly not the 'clearest on the planet'. For one, there's too much light - yes, even in the desert boondocks. Two, the air isn't nearly as dry as it could be (for example, the Atacama Desert in Chile has places where it has not rained in over 400 years). Three, clarity is partly a function of elevation, which is why telescopes are typically located on mountains. The higher you get, the less atmosphere you're peering through, and Arizona doesn't have particularly high mountains. There's some great amateur stargazing in Arizona. Best on the planet? Not even close.

This is a subject I know a LOT about and do stargazing nearly nightly. Your statements are mostly correct. I should point out though that most of the "better" places in the world for astronomical viewing - Chile in particular - are pretty darned remote and very very few people will ever get to those types of places. The big observatory locations on the Big Island of Hawaii and Maui are probably the easiest such locations to access, but even so few people are up there at night.

Observatories in Arizona

I'm lucky enough to have snagged a tour to the Mt Graham Observatories next month. Will get a chance to tour all 3 of the big scopes up there - the worlds largest binocular scope, the VATT (Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope) and the radio scope. REALLY looking forward to it.

For the Visiting Public | Mount Graham International Observatory

Have already toured the MASSIVE facility on Kitt Peak and highly recommend it:

https://www.noao.edu/kpvc/

In Tucson, there's the UofA Mirror Lab - situated underneath the university football stadium. This is where the build the largest single-piece telescope mirrors on earth (up to nearly 30 feet across). Mirrors above that size are too big to transport so the current technique is to use clusters of individual mirrors or even clusters of separate telescopes to serve a single enormous device.

Tours / Tickets | Steward Observatory Mirror Lab

Lots and lots and lots of astronomy-related things to do in SE Arizona. It's a BIG industry here - which is which Tucson has almost no street lights in the residential areas - and even so light pollution is becoming a bigger and bigger problem.

Of the "reasonable access" places on earth, the American SW in general and SE Arizona in particular is the best location for astronomical viewing - which is why so many LARGE observatories are in this part of the country. Within a few short hours drive of Tucson there are some of the largest telescopes and observatory complexes on earth - which is why Tucson is sometimes referred to as the "Astronomy Capital of the World".

Jupiter is great for viewing right now and remain so for the whole summer. Come late summer and fall - as Jupiter starts getting lost in the sunset, Saturn will take it's place as the "star of the night". I should mention that Jupiters 4 largest (is visible in a small scope) moons revolve around that gigantic world at a furious pace and change positions very quickly and the Sky and Telescope website has a great tool for identifying which moon is which. I view Jupiter a LOT and use that tool every time.

Astronomy Tools for Observing Tonight's Sky

Ken

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by LordBalfor

This is a subject I know a LOT about and do stargazing nearly nightly. Your statements are mostly correct. I should point out though that most of the "better" places in the world for astronomical viewing - Chile in particular - are pretty darned remote and very very few people will ever get to those types of places. The big observatory locations on the Big Island of Hawaii and Maui are probably the easiest such locations to access, but even so few people are up there at night.

Observatories in Arizona

I'm lucky enough to have snagged a tour to the Mt Graham Observatories next month. Will get a chance to tour all 3 of the big scopes up there - the worlds largest binocular scope, the VATT (Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope) and the radio scope. REALLY looking forward to it.

For the Visiting Public | Mount Graham International Observatory

Have already toured the MASSIVE facility on Kitt Peak and highly recommend it:

https://www.noao.edu/kpvc/

In Tucson, there's the UofA Mirror Lab - situated underneath the university football stadium. This is where the build the largest single-piece telescope mirrors on earth (up to nearly 30 feet across). Mirrors above that size are too big to transport so the current technique is to use clusters of individual mirrors or even clusters of separate telescopes to serve a single enormous device.

Tours / Tickets | Steward Observatory Mirror Lab

Lots and lots and lots of astronomy-related things to do in SE Arizona. It's a BIG industry here - which is which Tucson has almost no street lights in the residential areas - and even so light pollution is becoming a bigger and bigger problem.

Of the "reasonable access" places on earth, the American SW in general and SE Arizona in particular is the best location for astronomical viewing - which is why so many LARGE observatories are in this part of the country. Within a few short hours drive of Tucson there are some of the largest telescopes and observatory complexes on earth - which is why Tucson is sometimes referred to as the "Astronomy Capital of the World".

Jupiter is great for viewing right now and remain so for the whole summer. Come late summer and fall - as Jupiter starts getting lost in the sunset, Saturn will take it's place as the "star of the night". I should mention that Jupiters 4 largest (is visible in a small scope) moons revolve around that gigantic world at a furious pace and change positions very quickly and the Sky and Telescope website has a great tool for identifying which moon is which. I view Jupiter a LOT and use that tool every time.

Astronomy Tools for Observing Tonight's Sky

Ken

Great info, Ken!

I remember a friend of mine accidentally fell into the glass grinders at the Arizona Mirror Lab. Needless to say, he made a spectacle of himself.

[WilmaWildcat]

We did the UA Mt Lemmon Sky Center family telescope program one June a few years ago; and it is a terrific thing to do anytime, but especially in the summer. It's chilly by the time the evening is over; you need a jacket. Plus the Catalinas are beautiful, of course. Adam Block was our host that night; maybe you've heard of and marveled at his many NASA Astronomy photos of the day they have published.

We had done the Mirror Lab tour earlier in the week that vacation, and we highly recommend it. Super interesting; also something cool temperature-wise to do in the summer.

[teddyearp]

Originally Posted by Colt Cassidy

Great info, Ken!

I remember a friend of mine accidentally fell into the glass grinders at the Arizona Mirror Lab. Needless to say, he made a spectacle of himself.