Resources

The Problems of Light Pollution

Light pollution: Any adverse effect of artificial light including sky glow, glare, light trespass, light clutter, decreased visibility at night, and energy waste. Light pollution is not only a hinderance to astronomy, but it also impacts us directly.

Light pollution:

• is a risk factor for cancer to people
• is a disturbance to animals
• is a waste of energy, resources, and money
• is a security risk to your property
• and obscures our view of the wondrous night sky.

Other Florida Observatories

We have welcomed many different groups to come to visit our observatory, from school classes, to extracurricular groups and day camps.

On cloudy days or evenings, we will still offer lectures or video presentations to our visitors.

For those that can not make our Public Viewing events, there are various astronomical viewings available through out the state, to the public, such as in:

• Daytona Beach: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has a 1 meter Ritchey-Chrétien telescope at their Observatories.
• Orlando: the University of Central Florida has a 20" Richey Chrétien telescope and other Schmidt Cassegrains at their Robinson Observatory.
• Orlando: the Orlando Science Center has a 10" Refractor and more at its Crosby Observatory.
• Cocoa: the Eastern Florida State College (formerly the Brevard Community) has a Planetarium & Observatory housing a a 24" Ritchey-Chrétien reflector on their campus.
• Cocoa: the Brevard Astronomical Society is a Brevard-area amateur astronomer group that often is affiliated with the Student Astronomical Society of F.I.T. and the Kennedy Space Center Amateur Astronomers.
• Melbourne: Florida Institute of Technology's Astronomy & Astrophysics Group runs the 0.8 meter (32") Ortega Telescope & Observatory on its campus.
• Fort Pierce: the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society meets on the main campus of Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, which also houses the Hallstrom Planetarium.
• Fort Myers: the Evelyn L. Egan Observatory is on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University. Their observatory features a 16-inch Ritchey -Chrétien reflector telescope.
• West Palm Beach: the Astronomical Society of the Palm Beaches volunteers time at the Marmot Observatory at the Cox Science Center and Aquarium that is offered during their Nights at the Museum event.
• Boca Raton: the Eyes to Skies program at the Children's Science Explorium is offered at Sugar Sand Park, which is off of Military Trail, just south of Palmetto Park Road.
• Davie: Broward College has the Buehler Planetarium & Observatory on its campus.
• Sunrise: the South Florida Amateur Astronomers Association runs Fox Observatory in Markham Park.
• Big Cypress Preserve Astronomy Nights at the Big Cypress National Park has some of the darkest night skies in the eastern United States! Park Rangers and their astronomy partners conduct outings under awesome night skies!
• Miami: Booker T. Washington Senior High School has a great Planetarium for students and public viewings.
• Miami: the Florida International University has their The Stocker AstroScience Center with the addition of their 24" ACE telescope.
• Miami: the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science hosts their 250-seat planetarium.
• Website: Jason Higley runs the great Florida Astronomy webpage on all the Observatories and Astronomy happenings through out Florida. Nicely done Jason!

Astronomical Information

General Sky Conditions 

What's Up in the Sky!

 

Section updated: Apr. 28^th, 2025

The Sun Today:

The Sun is in the quiet pasture of Ares the ram right now.  It’ll hop the fence into Taurus’s pasture on May 14^th.  (Joke: Man in the middle of a pasture sees bull nearby, and then a farmer, and nervously calls out “Is that bull safe?”  “Yep” the farmer replies, “but I can’t say the same for you.”)  The Sun will appear about 4° away from the Pleiades on May 20^th.  Mercury will pass it by on May 29^th at its superior conjunction.  On June 21^st, it’ll safely pass out of Taurus’s pasture and move on to meet the Gemini twins just as it reaches its maximal height above the celestial equator, at the summer solstice and begin that season for the northern hemisphere.  It then will be just 40 arcmin away from M35 on the 23^rd, and on the next day, the 24^th, perfectly occult Jupiter on its conjunction, too.

Visual Sun

Current images of the Sun in H_α light

Solar X-rays

Geomag. Field

Lunar Phases:

moon info	1st Qtr. Moon	May 4th
	Full Moon	May 12th
	Last Qtr. Moon	May 20th
	New Moon	May 26th
	1st Qtr. Moon	June 3rd
	Full Moon	June 11th
	Last Qtr. Moon	June 18th
	New Moon	June 25th

 

Meteor Showers:

Section updated: Apr. 28th, 2025.

Note: compare shower dates with Moon for favorable viewing conditions; the fuller the Moon, the harder it will be to see the meteors!

 

Peak Night	Name	Radiant's Location	Source	Zero Hour Rate	Meteors' Velocity	Description	Conditions
May 6-7	Eta Aquarids	η Aquarius	comet 1P Halley	55-var.	66 km/s	fast, brighter than average meteors	Pre-dawn, Good
~June 7	Arietids	near Hamal or α Arietis	ast. Icarus? or ancient dead comet?	0-1	42 km/s	dawn-daytime radio shower	pre-dawn, invisible due to Sun
~June 11	Gamma Delphinids	γ Delphius	?	unknown	55 km/s?		Don't bother
~June 16	June Lyrids	South of Vega	?	down to 0?		found in 1966, last seen in 1996?	Ditto
~June 27	Bootids	northern Boötes	comet 7P Pons-Winnecke	var., 0-100	18 km/s	very SLOW, bright meteors	Go for it!

 

Viewing Tips: Find a decent location away from obstructive lights in night, especially avoid bluish-white lights that so impact your nightvision capabilities which you'll need to see the fainter meteors!  The meteors are generally heaviest in the wee hours of the morning as then we'll be in front of the Earth as it plows it way through the debris trail.  You'll want a clear and unobstructed view of the sky as you can find as the meteors will appear to travel across the entire sky.  It is this reason that an observatory, like FAU's, is a poor choice to go to observe a meteor shower.  An even worse place to go would be a cave!  In South Florida, I often advise folks to try the beach, though please be VERY careful during sea turtle season!  Egg nests or little hatchlings can be easily crushed by clumsy feet.  Use only red LED flashlights if you go to the beach to not only avoid stepping on these reptiles, but the color also protects your night vision (and of course your nighttime circadian rhythm, too) so that you can see the show.  Bring a blanket, use bug spray, get comfortable and enjoy the view!

Additional details about meteors, showers or to REPORT your own fireball observations should be done via http://amsmeteors.org.