The best viewing generally occurs later in the evening. In case of inclement or overcast weather, please call the Telescope Viewing Hotline at (805) 565-6272 and check the Westmont website to see if the viewing has been canceled.
The Moon, which will be nine days old, will be high in Pisces that evening. “We should be able to see some detail without straining our neck,” says Thomas Whittemore, Westmont physics instructor. “The crater triplet of Ptolomaeus, Alphonsus and Arzachel may show some interesting details in their shadows earlier in the evening. This gorgeous triplet will lie just beyond the Moon’s terminator, the light-shadow boundary, as viewing begins.”
Whittemore says that the gas giant Jupiter may also be good to view. “One moon of Jupiter, Io, will be alone on one side of Jupiter, and the other three Galilean moons, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, will be lined up on the other side of Jupiter.” Read More.
