Drake Municipal Observatory

📣 COMING SOON TO A NIGHT SKY NEAR YOU!! 📣

🌠 The Lyrids Meteor Showers 🌠

⭐️ This meteor shower runs from April 15th–29th. It peaks on the night of April 21st/22nd, which means this night may provide the most meteors to be seen. It can produce 15–20 meteors per hour. Some of these meteors can be swift & bright like “fireballs”. 🌠

🔷 Dust from Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1) produces the meteors. The comet itself takes about 420 years to orbit our Sun one time. It last reached its closest approach to our Sun in 1861, when the comet was discovered by A.E. Thatcher.

➡️ The “C” in its name indicates it is a long period comet, which means its orbit is more than 200 years.
➡️ “1861” stand for the year the comet was officially discovered.
➡️ The “G” indicates it was discovered in the first half of April.
➡️ The “1” means Thatcher was the first comet discovered in that first part of April.

💫 Comet Thatcher is currently traveling outward from our solar system and is expected to return to our solar system 🌎 about 2283.

💫 This meteor shower is one of the oldest known and it has been observed for the past 2,700 years. The first recorded sighting of the Lyrid meteor shower goes back to 687 B.C. by the Chinese.

🤩 Favorable viewing is expected on peak night as the moon will be in a waxing crescent 🌒 phase, when the moon is between the new moon of April 17th and the 1st quarter moon on the 23rd, providing darker skies. Now we hope for clear skies that night.

🤩 How to view a meteor shower –
👉 Best to find a location far from city lights.
👉 Dress for the weather.
👉 Make your wait comfortable — blankets, reclining chairs, pillows, and warm beverages, as temperatures can drop.
👉 Keep your phone away to preserve your night vision.
👉 For optimal viewing, bring a red-light flashlight to help you see without ruining your night vision.
👉 Meteor watching, like stargazing, can be a waiting game, so be patient.
👉 No need for telescope or binoculars. Meteors are best seen with naked eye 👀 viewing.
👉 Just look up and watch the night sky. 🤩

If you enjoy learning more of the night sky, check out our website.
https://dmastronomy.com/

We also offer astronomy 💫 programs on the 2nd & 4th Saturdays of each month. Click on the main website link above, scroll down on the home page or the 'Public Schedule' tab and click the link for the current schedule of Ashton Observatory events.
Admission is free for everyone!

🔷 DMAS is a non-profit organization whose primary function is to share the night sky with as many people as possible.

Image credit: National Geographic

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DnpeGpAGN/

(The email exchange below came from an anonymous source known as "Deep 'Scope") Has Ben Page been working on the problem of public safety at Observatory events for over 15 years? Of course not, that's ridiculous. He crafted The Ben Page Solution long ago. It took care of things then, has worked since at other public events but can't be used now to help resolve the golf course lighting brouhaha. In case you don't know, Chris Hensley currently sits on the Iowa Board of Regents and introduced Mayor Connie Boesen to neighborhood associations and city government a long time ago. THE BEN PAGE SOLUTION IS SIMPLE BUT HAS A LOT OF MOVING PARTS AND WILL BE DISCUSSED IN COMMENTS BELOW.

One more member of the Channel 8 News Team who is following astronomy and events at the Drake Municipal Observatory!

Could the KCCI News Team be the only ones so far to spot something that if not resolved could lead to a public cage fight in front of the City Council? If it ever comes up on the agenda at a properly announced and open-to-the-public meeting. At least they could find out if crowd control contingencies at the brand-new venue work as planned !

Drake University still provides free programs on astronomy at the Observatory just like they agreed to do over a century ago. Drake University also honors their commitment to provide the scientific equipment used at the observatory, mostly. DETAILS TO BE POSTED IN COMMENTS BELOW.