Florida Atlantic University Astronomical Observatory

Had a big day today hosting a visit from Pine Jog Environmental School's Summer Camp. 120 kids came to learn about the Sun, saw demonstrations of physics that related to it and observed sunspots on the Sun as well.

The kids were great, eager to learn, had loads of questions, and patiently waited out the clouds that were not expected for the projected clear skies. Kudos to Gianna and all their chaperons and staff for making it happen for them. And kudos to our volunteers of Enzo, Nicholas, Kasra, Juliette, Ondre, and my daughter Hailey, too! I could not have done it without them!

FYI: a "Planet-less Summer"

During yesterday's night session, I was asked about the opportunity to see any planets in the telescope. Unfortunately, we are not going to see any as we are entering into a "planet-less summer". The generated image shows our solar system from a distance of 43 au north of the ecliptic plane looking southwards. The planets' orbits and positions of Mercury through Neptune are shown for June 6th, 2026.

The straight light orange line divides the directions of Earth's nightside on its upper right half from its dayside at its lower left. The straight blue line from the Sun over the Earth at their crisscross point shows the direction of our midnight, which the constellation Apus appears at. The constellations of Carina and Musca appear in Earth's evening hours, while Octans, Mensa and Hydrus would appear in the early morning hours. All of these "background" constellations appear farther southwards than we can see them in Florida.

All of the other planets currently appear on the far side of the solar system, in Earth's daylight directions. It will take Earth over 3 months before its midnight line swings towards Saturn. So, expect our summer months this year to be without planets to observe and instead, that we'll focus on deep sky objects as found in the Milky Way Galaxy.

Today, April 14th, 2026, Palm Beach County proclaimed that April 2026 is Dark Sky Awareness Month. The Proclamation will be held here at FAU's Astronomical Observatory. Alyson Fishbein spearheaded this effort.

The County's video of the Proclamation Announcement can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/pbcgov/videos/1658177305312339/ Watch from 49:30 until 56:42 for our little bit.

We won't get to see the whole thing here in S. Florida, but do try to go out and see it if you have a clear view of it in the western horizon. The 5:26 am time is key to observe evidence for the sphericity of Earth. Enjoy!

🌑🔴 Total Lunar Eclipse — March 3, 2026

A breathtaking Total Lunar Eclipse will grace the night sky on March 3, 2026, turning the Moon a deep copper-red during totality — the famous Blood Moon.

As Earth moves directly between the Sun and the Moon, our planet’s shadow will slowly cover the lunar surface. When the Moon is fully immersed in Earth’s umbra, it will glow in shades of red and orange due to sunlight filtering through Earth’s atmosphere.

⏰ Totality lasts: About 58 minutes
🌘 Entire eclipse duration: Over 5 hours
👀 Safe to watch with the naked eye — no special equipment needed

🌓 Eclipse Timeline (EST):
• 4:35 AM – Deep Penumbral phase begins
• 5:26 AM – 50% Partial eclipse
• 6:04 AM – Totality begins
• 6:34 AM – Greatest Eclipse 🌕🔴
• 7:03 AM – Totality ends
• 7:41 AM – 50% Partial
• 8:33 AM – Deep Penumbral phase ends

This will be one of the most beautiful sky events of 2026 and the last total lunar eclipse visible worldwide until 2029.

Set your alarm, step outside, and witness the magic of the Blood Moon! 🌌✨

To counter a false promise of a "smiling conjunction" appearing on Feb. 28th, 2026, this is what people should expect to see in the skies. This one should be clearer.

Haven't posted much lately as I realized I had to plan for something big and it's taking time and meetings and . . . to work it out. And it's somewhat iffy, too.

BUT a big iffiness became less so after a particular rehearsal test was quite well done today. So I'm seeking volunteer astronomers to help out with this plan and will announce it soon as I get all my t's dotted and i's crossed! Promise!

There were loads of hair raising fun at the Observatory this first Friday of February's public viewing session!

We observed Saturn, Jupiter, Orion's nebulae, the Moon, and stellar spectra, through the clear and cold night sky. We taught about the winter evening constellations and how they help orient and place us on the globe. We discussed the origin of Earth's water, partially walked a "to scale model" of the solar system, invoked the magic of Lenzea Dawdlea Descendo, demonstrated the conversion of sound into electrical signals, explored magnetic fields, energized visitors to hair raising potentials so they could light gas tubes by hand, and even learned to manipulate lightning in a bottle!

There's so much to cover, that it's a good thing there are still more nights in the year!

Image credit: Brandon Welcher.

Action shot! Delving deep into lunar phases and eclipses with the kids from the Jack and Jill club!

✨🌙🪐 SATURN, STARS & STORIES! Our elementary students had a dynamic evening taking in the celestial creation. Special thanks to the Florida Atlantic University Astronomical Observatory and Facilitator Eric Vandernoot for the opportunity to explore astronomy in such a hands-on way!

Looking forward to learning the details of NASA's SLS/Artemis II launch. Possibly set for Feb 6th, but no times yet, as they need to do fuel tests before then. So, if it happens that evening, then we may be able to watch it from Boca for our 1st Friday session. Will provide what details I can as they become available.