Calendar of Events
The Kootenai Stargazers Astronomy Club meets the third Friday of each month.
Upcoming Meetings and presentations
- The Kootenai Stargazers Astronomy Club meeting for August has been canceled. Our standard meeting schedule will resume in September.
What's Up in the Night Sky
- Note: Observations are good for the lower 48 states, but more accurate for the Northwest Area.
- August 15: Full Moon. The moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be fully illuminated.
- August 30: New Moon. The moon will be located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects in the sky because there is no moonlight to interfere.
- September 9: Neptune at Opposition. The blue giant planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be illuminated by the Sun. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long. Due to its extreme distance from Earth, it will only appear as a tiny blue dot in all but the most powerful telescopes.
- There are two bright planets in the evening sky. Jupiter is quite low in the south-west; it is extremely bright and is now the first light in the sky as dark approaches. Saturn, although not near as bright, in in the south to the left of Jupiter. Both are good telescope (any size) objects but because they are low in the sky, the atmosphere will cause the image to shimmer and shake.
April 8, 2024 Next Total Solar Eclipse in the United States
- Future Total Eclipses in the United States
- See our Links page for additional information
