Clear Skies May Reveal Celestial Objects

Local stargazers wanting to catch a glimpse of the night sky through Westmont’s powerful Keck Telescope are hopeful they won’t be rained out again Friday, Jan. 21, beginning at 7 p.m. The free, public viewings, which are held every third Friday of the month, have been rained out the last three months. The observatory sits between the track and baseball field at Westmont. Free parking is available above the baseball field. Members of the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit (SBAU) also bring their telescopes to the event for the public to look through.

Tom Whittemore, Westmont physics instructor, says earlier in the evening he hopes to aim the telescope at Jupiter and Uranus. “These wonderful objects, however, are now fairly low in the southeast after the sun goes down and may be subject to a lot of atmospheric turbulence,” he says.

Viewers may also be able to look at another wintertime treat, the Great Orion Nebula, M42, which is in the eastern sky. This star-forming region is about 1,500 light years away. “Also high in the sky will be Auriga, the Chariot Driver, with a host of open clusters to please the public,” Whittemore says.

As the evening progresses, Whittemore says he will attempt to target a number of open clusters in Canis Major (the Big Dog) and Puppis (the Stern). “These open clusters are bright members of the winter Milky Way and are stunning in any size telescope,” he says.