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Featured Image
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun in our Solar System and lies at a distance of about 10 A.U. or about 1.5 billion km. In comparison to the Earth, Saturn is 9 times wider at the equator and 95 times more massive. Even though all four gas giants have rings, Saturn’s rings are the most prominent and the only ring system that can be seen with the naked eye. The rings are comprised mainly of dust and ice particles and are no more that one kilometer in thickness and over 280,000 kilometers across. They also consist of several separate rings. In this image, the major gap known as Cassini’s Division can be seen clearly. Of Saturn’s 62 moons, Titan is the largest (bigger than Mars!) and Enceladus is a prime candidate in the search for life within in the solar system. (Image credit: Alex Mowery)
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Image Gallery.
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Welcome to the Melton Memorial Observatory |
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The Melton Observatory is currently open to the public on clear Monday nights beginning 30 minutes after sunset, weather permitting. Anyone is welcome to come by and observe the Moon, planets, stars, star clusters, and more through our telescopes free of charge! Visit the Sky Report page to see what's currently in the sky.
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Information & Updates...
Public Observing... Our next public observing night will be Monday, May 21st from 8:50pm until 10:50pm, weather permitting. If you can't make it out, be sure to check out our live video broadcast from the telescope. Current weather forecast...
Venus Transit of the Sun... On the afternoon of June 5th, the planet Venus will transit across the disk of the sun, an event that won't occur again for another 105 years! When a planet transits the sun, it will appear as a small black disk silhouetted against the sun's disk (Images of the 2004 Venus Transit). The event will last about 6.5 hours; however, Venus will not begin its transit until 6:09pm EDT on the east coast. Because of this, east coast observers will only be able to see the first third of the event before the sun sets at 8:33pm EDT. We are in the process of setting up an event, and details will be released soon. Due to the trees around the observatory, we may try to find a secondary location in which to host the event to see the Sun all the way to the horizon. We will also broadcast the event live here on our website. Stay tuned!
Meteor Showers... The next major meteor shower will be the Perseids. The Perseids are the remnants of Comet Swift-Tuttle, which travels the solar system in a 133 year orbit. This shower is expected to peak during the mornings (not evenings) of August 12th and 13th with up to 50 or more meteors per hour under dark skies. A waning crescent moon will rise after 2am, but the affects of its light on observations will be minimal. Best viewing will be after midnight in the early morning hours of the 12th and 13th. Meteors will radiate from a point near the constellation Perseus in the northeast. Remember that the meteors can appear in any part of the sky, but the meteor trails will all point back towards the radiant point. The Perseids are generally one of the best meteor showers of the year.
Robert B. Ariail of Columbia, SC recently donated an extensive collection of antique to modern telescopes and equipment along with a vast collection of rare books and documents, over 5,200 items in all, with some dating back to the 16th century! A selection of the Robert B. Ariail antique telescope collection is now on exhibit at the SC State Museum. More than a dozen antique telescopes dating back to 1730 are on display on the fourth floor of the museum. This exhibit is part of a larger collection of 63 telescopes and other various astronomical equipment that Mr. Ariail has generously donated to the museum.
The International Space Station orbits the Earth once every 90 minutes or so and flys over Columbia on a regular basis. The space station can be seen in the twilight sky shortly before sunrise or just after sunset. The ISS appears as a very bright star-like object, and it moves very fast across the sky! Click here for flyby times in your area.
Clear Sky Chart for Columbia, SC...
Click the chart for a detailed description of sky conditions.
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