Astro 102 Observing Lab, Monday, 2/6

Photo by Ian Clarke

Monday lab had a good session last night, though a little cold. After a visual tour of the sky (dominated by the almost-full moon), we used a Meade telescope to observe Venus, Jupiter, the Orion Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy and the moon. A look at the dome room and control room of the observatory building wrapped up the evening. The image on the right, taken at 6:38 PM, shows Jupiter (above), Venus (below), and the observing deck illuminated by moonlight. Look for Venus and Jupiter to draw closer together over the next few weeks, eventually passing about three degrees from each other on March 12.