Star gazing!

We drove back to Lowell Observatory at 6pm this evening to participate in their chemistry/physics demonstrations for kids, listen to a lecture about the Pluto and the New Horizons spacecraft exploration, and star gaze via some of their many awesome telescopes. We were able to see the Moon up close, took a fantastic look at Jupiter with 4 of its moons, saw the the Sombrero Galaxy, and viewed the Orion Nebula with young stars amid beautiful blue-green gases. Outstanding!!!! It was really fun to see the joy and excitement of both boys as they learned and discovered. We also saw 4 satellites orbiting Earth in the night sky by eye as we stood in line for various telescope viewing. Awesome!

This picture is great because I also captured the moon in the upper right hand corner. 

Ash with the symbols of the sun and planets in our solar system. The sun is at the bottom. Pluto is at the top. 

View of Flagstaff from the observatory overlook

Looking at elemental spectra with special glasses during the space science demos. 

Viewing the Moon via the Clark telescope. 

Zach viewing the Moon! Telescope panorama! The Clark telescope is 120 years old and was designed by Lowell specifically to explore and study planets. 

Clark Telescope repositioned to point at Jupiter which you can see through the dome doors! Picture is in black and white because taken in low/red light for best Jupiter light collection and viewing.