Letha House Park

Seeing Stars Saturday!

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Simulated View of Saturn and Moons as they will appear Saturday, September 7, at 9:30 PM EDT. Image via Gas Giants.
Seeing Stars Saturday! Coming this weekend: from 9 to 11 PM at Medina County Park District’s Letha House Park West on Saturday, September 7: Visit our observatory and peer through telescopes at our amazing cosmos. Planets Saturn and Jupiter will be spectacular, the Moon will be bright! And let’s not forget amazing star clusters; they would be sad if we did not look at them. {Such showoffs.}
Public observing nights are conducted in the open night air so dress appropriately for fall-like temperatures. There may also be mosquitoes so insect repellent may be a good idea.

Public Night at Letha House Saturday, June 8

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Photo: Waxing Crescent Moon, July 29, 2017. Photo by James Guilford.

Come see deep-sky objects, planets, and the Moon up close using the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association’s (CAA) telescopes, from 9:00 to 11:00 PM, Saturday, June 8.

The CAA Observatory will be open for public viewing, and members will be available to answer your questions. Activities and/or displays will be set up inside the barn for further interest on cloudy nights. Given clear enough skies, visitors may view Earth’s Moon, planet Jupiter, and star clusters through a variety of member-owned telescopes.

This is an outdoor program so attendees should dress appropriately for conditions; use of insect repellent is also recommended.

Click here for more information about the observatory and its location!

Looking out the window

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Photo: Craters on the Moon's Terminator. An iPhone photo taken through a telescope at 600X. Converted to monochrome. Photo Credit: Lowan Laws.
Craters on the Moon’s Terminator. An iPhone photo taken through a telescope at 600X. Converted to monochrome. Photo Credit: Lowan Laws.

CAA member Lowan Laws was using his eight-inch Meade Dobsonian telescope at our Letha House Park observing site one very clear night this July. Pointing his scope at the Moon, he marveled at how sharp the image was. He said the atmosphere was so clear and steady — the seeing extraordinary — that he kept increasing the magnification to see how far he could go. Finally, at 600X, he snapped this image using his Apple iPhone at the telescope eyepiece (afocal method). It’s almost like looking out the window of a spaceship in lunar orbit.

Public observing night at Letha House September 9

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Photo: Saturn, by Rochus Hess
Saturn. Credit: Rochus Hess

The Cuyahoga Astronomical Association (CAA) will host a public star party this Saturday (Sept. 9) from 8:00 to 10:00 PM at the Medina County Park District’s at Letha House Park (West). The club’s observatory will be open and CAA members will offer viewing through their personally-owned telescopes.

The weather forecast is looking good for Saturday.  If skies are clear, Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune will be visible at dusk. Later, Uranus, Saturn, and Neptune will be visible.
The waning Gibbous Moon will clear the horizon at 10:15.  When the sky grows dark enough, and before moonrise, there about 30 Messier objects visible. Messier objects include such things as brighter star clusters, nebulas, and galaxies.