COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. Amateur astronomers interested in a close-up view of the conjunction of five planets are invited to a special nighttime viewing at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Observatory atop Austin Bluffs.
Sponsored by the Society of Physics Students, the Physics Observatory will be open from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. April 23 providing skies are clear. In the event of cloudy or inclement weather, the observatory will open to the public at 8:30 p.m. April 30.
The viewing is free. Physics students and faculty members will be available to explain the conjunction of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn over the Colorado skies. The planets are visible with the bare eye but, with the benefit of the observatory’s 16-inch diameter telescope, will be “up close and personal,” according to Jim Burkhart, professor, Physics.
The unusual celestial configuration occurs when the five planets are on one side of the sun. That in itself is not rare. What is exceptional is that all five of the planets will be visible at the same time, arrayed across the early spring evening. Similar planetary configurations often are not visible because one or more of the planets become lost in the sun’s glare on or near the crucial dates.
“The next time this will happen will be in 30 years,” Burkhart explained.
To reach the observatory from Academy Boulevard, turn west onto Montebello Drive, follow Montebello Drive west ½ mile to Rockhurst Boulevard. Continue south on Rockhurst until the pavement ends in a culdesac. Follow the dirt road south ¼ mile past the water storage tank.
For more information, visit www.uccs.edu/~pessoc.
CU-Colorado Springs, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in northeast Colorado Springs, is the fastest growing university in Colorado and one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The university offers 25 bachelor’s degrees, 17 master’s and two doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls more than 7,600 students annually.