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Public Observing Night
May 11, 2013
8:00
till 10:00 pm.
At John
Rudy Park, York, PA. Observatory
The
York County Astronomical Society, Inc. is a non-profit organization
dedicated to the advancement of the science of astronomy.
Expand your mind by taking in the expanse of the universe.
Come and view the night skies with us through one of our telescopes and let our experienced
members guide you on a tour of celestial wonders, including stars, planets,
nebulae, and the moon. You are also invited to bring your own telescope and
share your experiences with other amateur astronomers. Star Charts are available to help your exploration of the nighttime sky.
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For all Observing activities at John Rudy Park, if the weather is questionable, please check our voice message at 717-578-9109 for notice of any late cancellation or for an updated
status, check this website.
If it is clear or mostly clear, the activity will
occur as scheduled. If it is completely cloudy, raining or snowing, the activity will be cancelled.
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The May 11, 2013 Night Sky for
Public Observing.
May
Constellations
The
brilliant stars of winter are fading from view setting in the west
and giving way to the fainter stars of spring and summer rising in
the east as the night progresses.
Sun
The
Sun sets at 8:11 this day. It is located in the constellation
Aries the Ram.
Moon

The Moon this
night is visible as a waxing crescent with 3% of the Moon's visible disk
illuminated right after sunset above the western horizon.
Planets
Visible May 11th evening sky
Jupiter
is visible in the western sky after sunset in the constellation
Taurus the Bull. Jupiter will be 07°31'07" degrees above the
Moon.
Saturn
is visible in the eastern sky after sunset on the border of
constellations Libra and Virgo. Saturn appears 14 degrees from the
bright star Spica in the constellation of Virgo.
Venus
will be very low just above the horizon after sunset and difficult
to see but will be rising higher in the sky in the coming weeks.
Comets
The
comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) is located in the north circumpolar
constellation Cepheus this night at ~7.9 magnitude. The comet will
be only 01°23'28.742" from the 3.2 magnitude star Errai in
Cepheus.
Meteors
The
Eta Aquarids can be seen around April 21 and they persist until
about May 12; They peak on May 5/6. At this time, observers in the
Northern Hemisphere are likely to see about 10 meteors every hour,
Take
a memorable tour with members of the York County Astronomical Society of
Galaxies, planets, the moon and the constellations of the night sky.
Stars
and Constellations Astronomical Pronunciation Guide
The
May 11, 2013 Night Sky Below Looking:
North
- South
- East
- West
- Zenith
Directions
to Observatory
See:
Directions
Explore
the Wonders of your Universe
Astronomy
Picture of the Day
The Known
Universe
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Superstars
Our sun is almost one million miles in diameter and a million earths would fit in it.
It takes light eight minutes to reach us from the sun.
The last star shown in video is VY Canis Majoris which takes light about 5000 years to reach us
that is light traveling at 186,000 miles per second x 60 seconds
in a minute x 60 minutes in an hour x 365 days in a year x 5000 years.
VY Canis Majoris is (almost 2 billion ) 1.7 billion miles in diameter.
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LIGHT
POLLUTION OF OUR NIGHT SKIES
What does light pollution look like?
What does your nighttime sky look like? Try this fun interactive game to see how light
pollution affects the stars you see at night:
Light
Pollution also
see: Globe
At Night

International
Dark Sky Association
See
Weather and Directions
map below.
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