Bernie Badger

for FLORIDA TODAY

Join the Brevard Astronomical Society at the Astronaut Memorial Planetarium for National Astronomy Day on Saturday, April 29, 2017 from 6:30 to 10 pm. The Brevard Astronomical Society will have telescopes set up for viewing the Sun, planets, and stars. The Eastern Florida State College Observatory will also be open with the 24-inch telescope. The Planetarium will be offering 2-for-1 tickets at the box office for Saturday only.

Since 1973 Astronomy Day has been organized to bring the public into “contact” with the sky through easy to use telescopes. Originally scheduled for a Saturday closest to the first quarter moon in late April or early May, in 2007 an autumn event was added. This year the First Quarter Moon falls on May 3, the upcoming Wednesday, but April 29 was chosen as Spring Astronomy Day. This is a full four days before the First Quarter Moon. This means that the Moon will be relatively young, showing a medium crescent. The Moon will be in good position to be seen all evening, as moonset is at 11:37 p.m. EDT.

The craters of the Moon will be highly visible along the terminator — the boundary between the lit side of the Moon and the dark side. Appropriately enough, the laser show for Saturday at 9:00 p.m. is Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.

You can come to the Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory almost any Friday or Saturday evening, but sometimes the Planetarium is closed to the public during a private event. In fact, the Planetarium is closed next Friday May 5th for a private event and again later in May on Saturday the 27th.

Even when—as usual—the Observatory is open, the Moon won’t always be visible. Astronomy Day was chosen to make sure that the dramatic craters of the Moon would be up in the sky in the early evening. That is why it is near the First Quarter.

You can check the phase of the Moon on most calendars, or visit http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/moon_phases.php to get accurate and precise moon data for any date. You can get the phases or check the times of moonrise and moonset. Just to be sure, also check the forecast for cloudiness. The telescope is at the mercy of the weather.

Another impressive sight for Astronomy Day will be Jupiter. It is possible to see the weather patterns on this largest of our planets. Its fast spin gives it a definite bulge at the equator. Jupiter’s largest moons dance around the planet at high speed. Tonight at 7:36 EDT, Jupiter’s moon Io (“eye-oh”) exits eclipse by Jupiter's shadow reappearing at Jupiter’s side. (This may be difficult to observe, since the Sun has not set, but it is possible to see Jupiter telescopically in the daytime sky.)

Inside the Astronaut Memorial building the planetarium has the largest sky dome around. Come to see the sky show, IMAX movie, and rock ‘n roll laser show. Secreted away in the back of the campus, Astronaut Memorial Planetarium can be found by turning off Clearlake RD at the Seven-Eleven on

Rosetine ST. Follow Rosetine ST to the back edge of the campus and turn right at the Planetarium sign before the baseball field.

Here’s the schedule for the coming week:

Friday Evening, 4/28

7:00 P.M. Amazing Universe

8:15 P.M. Whales (IMAX movie)

9:00 P.M. The Led Zeppelin Laser Experience

Saturday Evening—Astronomy Day! BOGO pricing, 4/29

7:00 P.M. Kid’s Night! The Little Star That Could

8:15 P.M. Solar Max (IMAX movie)

9:00 P.M. Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" (Laser)

Wednesday Matinée, 5/3

2:00 P.M. More Than Meets the Eye

3:15 P.M. Solar Max (IMAX movie)

Friday, 5/5 Closed!

The EFSC observatory is regularly open to the public from 6:30 p.m. to about 10:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights. Mars is still visible early in the evening. Jupiter should be visible in our telescope about 8:45 p.m. Add a bookmark in your web browser at https://www.calendarwiz.com/planetarium to keep up with the planetarium show schedule.

Mr. Badger is Project Coordinator at the Eastern Florida State College Planetarium in Cocoa. Send questions, suggestions, or comments to badgerb@easternflorida.edu