Morning Mercury under Moon
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Morning Mercury

Weather permitting, second half of the November is a good time to see Mercury on East horizon before sunrise! To spot Mercury can be difficult. On Friday November 13 2020 it was actually very easy. Mercury was visible under sliver of the Moon between two trees, as you can see on picture taken at 5:52 AM (exposure 1.3s, ISO 800). […]
Sky above us
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The Most Astounding Fact

By Mitchel Medvec The video idea came from a day when I was incredibly bored, sitting on my couch during quarantine watching astrophotography videos on youtube. I have always had an incredible interest in astronomy and the cosmos in general, which is why I am currently majoring in Astrophysics at the University of Minnesota. It wasn’t until I started this […]
Comet NEOWISE
Members Blog

Comet C/2020 F3 Neowise seen early July

There is bright comet on the morning sky! On Friday July 3rd I went to the Root River Park, but stopped my car immediately after turn from County Rd 1 SE on 80th St SE. Above East horizon there was rising Auriga with bright Capella on left side and bright Morning star – Venus on the right side. At 4:31 […]
Constellation Canis Major at Oxbow
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Winter Sky above Oxbow

On Friday February 28 the Rochester Astronomy Club hosted Public Sky Observing at Oxbow Park. It was a nice winter day, that turned into beautiful evening for observing. This public event started at 6:30 PM and several RAC members provided telescopes. Tables and chairs were also setup inside the visitor center so observers could warm up and see presentations by […]
Mercury and Venus
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Evening Mercury

The first three weeks of February 2020 there is good chance to spot elusive planet Mercury on the evening sky. Mercury is the innermost planet and doesn’t go far from Sun. This time of year Mercury can be seen on the evening sky about half hour after sunset. High above southwest horizon, there is also visible much brighter planet Venus. […]
Members Blog

Moon at ZooDazzle

Friday December 6 was again night of the Public Sky Observing. This time was at Oxbow Park also ZooDazzle, hosted by a non-profit organization the Friends of Oxbow. It is a fundraiser for Zollman Zoo. This annual event is designed to get families out to the zoo at evening to see about 200,000 lights, which Park is decorated with, animals, […]
Members Blog

Mercury transit observed

The innermost planet Mercury was on November 11, 2019 transiting in front of the Sun. Many club member prepared for this rare event at Mayo High School. They were hoping, that weather would allow to observe dark silhouette of the Mercury against bright Sun. Event started at 6:35 AM and ended at 12:05 PM. Observers experienced all kind of weather […]
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Jupiter rising

Warm summer nights beckon many of us outside to observe the celestial wonders that appear above us in the starry skies. Long summer days and short nights may disappoint many amateur astronomers, yet summer skies dazzle us with some of the grandest objects in the sky. Jupiter rises just as the summer sun is setting. With its great Red Spot […]
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Members Blog

Nice May night

RAC outreach program continues already the third year.  Public observing is about once a month after dusk, when Moon  is in about the first quarter. It’s mostly conducted from the Watson soccer field. This Winter we found, that soccer field parking would not be plowed, so we could not safely use it for observing, especially in such snowy Winter. Fortunately […]
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Members Blog

Total Lunar Eclipse on Sunday January 20

Rochester Astronomy Club is planing public observing event from 9 PM at History Center of Olmstead County, see https://rochesterskies.org/event/total-lunar-eclipse-observing-2019-01-20/ The first full moon of 2019 will be a great opportunity for observing a total lunar eclipse. The Moon will almost be at its closest distance to the Earth, close to the perigeum, which means it will be slightly bigger, and such […]