Lunar Occultation of Saturn & Titan
The Moon occults Saturn and it's largest moon Titan early on Friday morning...
This week, Jupiter is at opposition, making its closest approach to Earth for 2018. I caught the planet rising over Kleyn Kloof Nature Reserve just prior to Full Moon on the 30th April. Rising in the east shortly after sunset, the giant gas planet is up all night long, shining brighter than any other star in the night sky.
A pair of binoculars will easily show the planet as a tiny pale yellow disk, as well as its four brightest satellites, the Galilean moons, Callisto, Io, Ganymede and Europa. A small telescope will readily show the planets cloudy bands. With a 12cm (4.7 inch), or larger telescope, Jupiter's giant red spot (GRS), as well as finer details, become visible.
Come to the Club's stargazing evening for stunning views of Jupiter through the telescope and hear how Galileo’s views of Jupiter’and it's four satellites changed our perspective of the solar system. Or join Kos at the Southern Cape Observatory for a Night Sky Safari, and live video of the planet through a 12-inch telescope.
Southern Cape Astronomy Club meets at least once a month for stargazing or observation evenings close to new Moon or during astronomical related events. The well-established club is based in Pearly Beach just outside Gansbaai.
View ProfileXplorio is your local connection allowing you to find anything and everything about a town.
Read MoreThe Moon occults Saturn and it's largest moon Titan early on Friday morning...
Jaco Koekemoer provided an excellent description of the event "Suddenly out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blinding gold-coloured flash in the direction of Gansbaai.
Come and catch some starlight and join us on the Village Green at Pearly Beach for an evening of stargazing...
Where to find the naked eye planets in March and comet C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto) is visible in our evening skies...
It's full moon tomorrow 19 February 2019 at 17:54.
At magnitude +5 the comet is an easy binocular and naked eye target...