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See Jupiter from IU Kokomo Observatory February 26 and 27
February 23, 2004 | |||||
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KOKOMO, Ind.—Weather permitting, the IU Kokomo Observatory will be open to the public Thursday, February 26, and Friday, February 27, to allowing viewing of the planet Jupiter coming into opposition with Earth. Visitors can look through the observatory telescope from 7 to 9:30 p.m. both nights. Admission is free. Being “in opposition” means that, while orbiting the sun, the two planets will align and be at the relatively closest possible distance to each other. This gives the closest possible view of Jupiter’s surface from Earth. “We plan to view Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, the moon and the Orion Nebula,” said Observatory Director Rick Steldt, Ph.D., associate professor of physics. “The moon is in a nice full crescent phase on Thursday night and should add interest.” If the sky over Kokomo is cloudy at the beginning of the open house hours, the viewing will be canceled for that night. Jim Barnes and Ron Brown of the Kokomo Astronomy Club will have telescopes set up outside of the observatory for additional sky gazing. The opposition date for Jupiter is March 3, but Jupiter will appear virtually the same size through the observatory telescope during the open house nights, Steldt said. The Earth/Jupiter opposition and an Earth/Saturn opposition on Dec. 31, 2003, haven’t drawn near the media hype that surrounded an Earth/Mars opposition seen last August and September. Steldt estimated that close to 3,000 people came to the IU Kokomo Observatory over a five-week period to look at the Red Planet. “Mars is so small (in comparison to other celestial bodies) that it looks large in a telescope only near its opposition dates,” he explained. The two largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn already provide ample targets when observed from Earth. “So what is more important for Saturn and Jupiter is how high in the sky they are in the early evening (for public viewing). Saturn was nearly perfect, but Jupiter will still be quite low in the east after sunset.”
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