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We've all seen in books drawings of our solar system. The drawing of the sun, planets and moons, and the dwarf planet pluto all seem to fit nicely on the centerfold. Since the enlightenment, scientists have devised orraries to show the planets and their motions. But we're fooling ourselves.
The planets and moons are tiny compared to the sun and their is tremendous empty space between them. How much empty space?
Go to: https://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html At the bottom of the window are tiny < and > scroll buttons and a small square slider to walk you from the sun to pluto. For the size of the sun (scaled so that our moon is one pixel on your screen) the length of the scrolling chart is 457 feet (139m).
Lost in space? Come to Obervatory Park at Turner Farm and walk from the gate to the Roll-Top Observatory. We've laid out the distance of the planets in real scale (but even then we've cheated on the sie of the planets so that you can see them).
For Josh Worth's website, here is a cheat sheet for finding the planets (He uses the mean distance from the sun in kilometers).
There's a lot of empty space between. Try it on our walkway.
Venus - 108 million km
Earth - 149 million km
Mars - 228 million km
Jupiter - 778 million km
Saturn - 1.43 billion km
Uranus - 2.87 billion km
Neptune - 4.5 billion km
Pluto - 5.9 billion km
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In the March 2023 issue of www.connectionnewspapers.com the Analemma Society and Observatory Park made the cover with "Seeing Stars" with the caption: "While this visitor to Observatory Park in Great Falls views Mars through a refractor telescope, the red planet and nearby Pleiades star cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters, are visible overhead." [See photo at right]
“I’d like to increase astronomy programs across the county, but if given a choice to sign up for a class elsewhere or at the observatory, the public will choose the observatory,” said Tammy Schwab, Fairfax County Park Authority education and outreach manager.
Christina Tyler Wenks, author of the article, continued: "Outdoor night-sky programs started in 2003, but the Roll Top Building’s 2016 completion was a game changer. The Roll- Top is half classroom and half-observatory, where the roof opens providing sky access to mounted telescopes. Walls block headlights and wind, providing a darker, warmer space on cold nights.
“Now that we have the classroom, we can do regular programs. We go right from the classroom to telescopes, and we don’t have the setup time of hauling telescopes outdoors,” explained Analemma Society’s Jeffrey Kretsch, who works with FCPA to accommodate increasing program demand."
Join us for free public observing of the sky every Friday night at Observatory Park, Turner Farm, Great Falls VA.. April-May hours 8:00pm to 10:00pm. Summer hours May 12th and after 8:30pm to 10:30pm.
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The Friday Night Public Observing at Turner Farm Roll-Top Observatory has broken all records. During September and October, Fairfax County Parks and the Analemma Society have hosted more than 100 visitors each clear, cool Friday night.
With four telescopes in the observatory, young children, teens, and adults get a ring-side seat to the universe. The Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn have been most popular. Star clusters such as M13 show thousands of stars at a glance, and the Owl Nebula shows the gaseous envelope surrounding a dying sun-like star.
Analemma Society volunteers help visitors become familiar with the night sky, identifying constellations, finding bright and colorful stars, and become familiar with telescopic observation.
Come join us on a clear sky Friday night. It's free and open to the public of all ages. And remember to dress warmly - the roll-top observatory has the roof rolled back and inside it's the same temperature as being outside under the open sky.
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Jeff Kretsch and Alan Figgatt worked hard to clear a path to the Roll-Top Observatory and remove snow from the roof. They worked hard and long to prepare the Oservatory for the 5 January Wednesday Night Sky Tour Class just after a very wet and heavy snow. Weather was clear and gave the opportunity to 12 visitors and students to see the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, the giant red star Betelgeuse, the double star Almach, and the Orion Nebula.
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We' had an active late-summer and early-fall at the Turner Farm Observatory in Great Falls. We had an exceptional run of clear Friday nights for free public observing. This Friday is no exception. Come see the autumn skies tonight and plan to come for the Lunar Eclipse on Nov 19th from 1AM - 6AM. (Of course like all viewing events, it is weather dependent and will be canceled if rain is expected.
Last Friday night we had a Gitl Scout Btownie troop and parents join the general public for sky watching at the Roll-Top Observatory telescopes. Here is a sampling of what they saw thanks to Dr. Jeff Kretsch and his camera:
