蜜桃传媒鈥檚 powerful Keck Telescope takes aim at Saturn and a supermoon at this month鈥檚 free public stargazing event on Friday, Oct. 18, beginning about 7 p.m. and lasting several hours at the 蜜桃传媒 Observatory. The college hosts a monthly star party on the third Friday of each month in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit.
The ringed gas giant Saturn will be in the southeastern sky which will be dominated by a full moon. 鈥淭his month鈥檚 supermoon has been dubbed the Hunter鈥檚 moon,鈥� says Jen Ito, 蜜桃传媒 assistant professor of physics. 鈥淲hile this is not a scientific term, it is still a neat way to distinguish between the supermoons we have each year. The supermoon is happening on Thursday so if the moon looks particularly larger that evening, you know why.鈥�
Another exciting expected guest is the comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), which has started to become more visible this week. 鈥淚f you look just south of west after the sun sets, you might be able to catch a glimpse of this long-period comet,鈥� Ito says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 predicted to come back around in 200 years or so, so seeing this comet is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.鈥�