About the Dome The Morrison Planetarium is the largest all-digital dome in the world with a 75-foot diameter projection screen tilted at a 30 degree angle. Thanks to immersive video technology, the dome seems to disappear when imagery is projected onto it, creating an experience more like flying than watching a movie. The planetarium relies on scientific data to depict current discoveries with unprecedented accuracy. It also has the flexibility to present a wide variety of programming that is both educational and entertaining. Traditional star shows will be supplemented by live “tours of the Universe,” and programming will include live NASA feeds as well as broadcasts from Academy scientists in the field.

Planetarium Shows LIFE: A COSMIC STORY How did life on Earth begin? This tantalizing question forms the basis of the second all-digital planetarium show produced by the Academy for the Morrison Planetarium’s 75-foot diameter dome. WINNER of the “Best Fulldome Program” category at the 2011 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival! ENDS SOON — LAST SHOWINGS MAY 23! Learn more Showtimes for LIFE: A COSMIC STORY Monday - Friday: Every hour on the half-hour, 11:30 am - 4:30 pm. Saturday & Sunday: Every 45 minutes, 10:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please note that this schedule is subject to change due to exhibit closures or special events. Through May 22, 2012: All 10:30 am shows Monday through Friday are reserved for school groups, arranged in advance. Starting Monday, May 28, 10:30 shows will be available to the public. On May 23, there will be no 10:30 am showing of “Life: A Cosmic Story” due to the press preview for “Earthquake: Evidence of a Restless Planet.” The Planetarium is very popular and tickets are handed out on a first come first serve basis due to limited seating. Visit the cart at the planetarium theater to pick up a show pass. In addition, please remember that shows may not be appropriate for kids 6 and under, and that children 3 and under are not permitted. School and youth groups are required to have an advance reservation in a school show in order to attend the Planetarium. Please check your reservation carefully for confirmation of any requested programs, we do not accept walkup requests on the day of your field trip. STARTING SATURDAY, MAY 26: EARTHQUAKE: EVIDENCE OF A RESTLESS PLANET A sweeping geological journey, Earthquake explores the forces that transform the surface of our planet. After a stunning flight over the San Andreas Fault, audiences travel back in time to experience San Francisco’s infamous 1906 earthquake. Data-driven visualizations illustrate Earth’s story, revealing how subtle motions and sudden ruptures have shaped our planet over eons—and how geological activity influences the course of human history. Finally, see how scientists and engineers help society prepare for a safer future. SCIENCE OF THE SUN A 15-minute, live mini-show is presented in Hohfeld Hall, the Planetarium’s preshow area, featuring our star, the Sun! Through May 20, learn what eclipses are, what causes them, and about the upcoming solar eclipse that will be seen from across the western U.S.! Future shows will feature the transit of Venus on June 5, and phenomena that make our Sun such a fascinating object! Shown daily. Shows presented Monday-Friday at 10:40 am, 11:40 am, & 12:40 pm, Saturday & Sunday every 45 minutes, 10:40 am - 4:40 pm. No passes required. Enter from the Lab Junior side of the Planetarium dome. All ages welcome. Space limited.

Watch the Life Trailer

 

Skywatcher’s Guide (April-June 2012)

	Sunrise	Local Noon	Sunset
April 1	6:54 a.m. PDT	1:14 p.m. PDT	7:33 p.m. PDT
May 1	6:13 a.m. PDT	1:07 p.m. PDT	8:01 p.m. PDT
June 1	5:49 a.m. PDT	1:08 p.m. PDT	8:26 p.m. PDT

(Times are for San Francisco, CA, and will vary slightly for other locations.)

April 6

Full Moon rises at sunset, located against the stars of Virgo the Maiden, with the star Spica and the planet Saturn nearby. Native Americans named the full Moon of April the “Sprouting Grass Moon” (Algonquin), the “Month of the Flower Moon” (Cherokee), and “Budding Time” (Mohawk). Since this is the first full Moon of Spring, the following Sunday, by general rule, is Easter Sunday.

April 13

Last Quarter Moon, located south at dawn and visible descending in the southwest and setting at midday.

April 21

New Moon and the start of a new cycle of phases. Sighting of the first crescent after new is possible on the 22nd, starting the month Jumada-al-Thani in the Moon-based Islamic calendar

April 22

Peak of the annual Lyrid meteor shower, averaging 10-15 meteors per hour and coinciding with a thin, waxing crescent Moon which sets early and whose light will not interfere with viewing.

April 29

First Quarter Moon. Although we see what many people commonly call a “half Moon,” the name refers to the fact that the Moon has completed the first quarter of its orbit around Earth since New. Due south at sunset, passing from the stars of Cancer the Crab into those of Leo the Lion.

May 5

Full Moon, accompanied by perigee, brings higher tides than usual. The Moon has completed half an orbit since New and is located opposite the Sun, rising at sunset. Fortunately, we don’t refer to this as a “Half Moon,” even though that would be consistent with the names of the quarter phases, To Native Americans, this Full Moon was named the “Panther Moon” (Choctaw), the “Little Corn Moon” (Natchez), and the “Planting Moon” (San Ildefonso).

May 12

Last quarter Moon (sometimes called the “third quarter”) located south-southwest at dawn, where the western edge of Aquarius the Water-Carrier reaches over Capricornus the Sea-Goat. The Moon has completed the third (and is about to begin the last) quarter of its orbit since New.

May 20

The New Moon slips between Earth and the Sun, casting its shadow onto our planet’s surface, but there’s something different about it – this is not a total solar eclipse but an annular (see Spring Notes for more information). Sighting of the first crescent after this new Moon is possible at sunset on May 22 and marks the start of the month Rajab in the Islamic calendar

May 28

First Quarter Moon in Leo, forming a sharp triangle with Mars and the star Regulus.

June 4

This night’s Full Moon undergoes a partial lunar eclipse as it skims the northern edge of Earth’s reddish shadow. Names given by Native Americans to the Full Moon of June include the “Strawberry Moon” (Algonquin), the “Moon of Making Fat” (Lakota Sioux), and the “Hot Weather Moon” (Ponca).

June 5

Transit of Venus across the Sun occurs – a once in a lifetime event for most as the planet once known as “Earth’s Twin” moves directly in front of the Sun (see Spring Notes).

June 11

Last Quarter Moon visible in the south at sunrise and visible in the daytime sky until about noon.

June 19

New Moon. Sighting of the first thin crescent after New on June 20 starts the month Sha’ban in the Islamic calendar.

June 20

Summer solstice at 4:07 p.m. PDT. The Sun rises and sets at its most northerly points on the horizon and spends the greatest period of time above the horizon. Due to “seasonal lag,” which is caused primarily by the large, temperature-moderating amounts of water on Earth’s surface, some areas such as San Francisco don’t experience the warmest weather until September and October.

June 26

First Quarter Moon visible in the south at sunset and setting about midnight, located near Mars in the constellation Virgo the Maiden.

Spring Notes

In the table of sunrise & sunset times, notice how sunrise occurs gradually earlier and sunset later this season – the day itself isn’t getting any longer (it’s always 24 hours), but the of daylight is definitely getting longer as we approach the Summer Solstice, and the nights shorter.

April 28 is Astronomy Day, celebrated since 1973 by amateur and professional astronomers alike and used as an opportunity to engage the public in the wonder of stargazing and space science. Many astronomy clubs, planetariums, observatories, and science centers plan events such as talks or telescopic observing sessions.

The annular solar eclipse occurs on May 20, during which the Moon casts its shadow onto our planet, as during a total eclipse. However, the Moon is slightly farther away at this time, so it appears smaller as seen from Earth and therefore doesn’t block the entire solar disk from view. This leaves a bright ring of the Sun’s disk visible, called an annulus, which is bright enough to wash the Sun’s pale outer atmosphere, or corona, from view. Annular eclipses, then, aren’t as spectacular as total eclipses, and the sky doesn’t get as dark, but the sight of the annulus is still quite striking. The annulus will be seen along a narrow path that begins at Hong Kong, where the Sun will rise already partly eclipsed. The path crosses the East China Sea into southern Japan, passing just 10 kilometers south of Tokyo, where annularity will last 5 minutes. For observers in Asia, west of the International Date Line, the eclipse occurs on the morning of May 21st, but as the Moon’s shadow crosses the Pacific, it crosses the Date Line and passes into the afternoon of May 20th just southwest of the Aleutian Islands. Curving southward toward the U.S. West Coast, the shadow-path makes landfall in northern California, where the annulus will be seen late in the afternoon from Eureka, Redding, and Chico. Continuing into Nevada (directly over Reno and Carson City), it then passes through a corner of Utah (Cedar City), and into Arizona (just north of Flagstaff) and New Mexico (Santa Fe, Albuquerque, & Roswell). The last major city from which the annulus can be seen is Lubbock, Texas, just before sunset. Although the path of annularity is only about 200 miles wide, the partial phase of the eclipse can be seen across a much wider area that covers all of eastern Asia, Siberia, and most of North America, and the closer observers are to the path, the greater the eclipse magnitude, or the fraction of the solar diameter obscured by the Moon’s silhouette. Observers in San Francisco, for example, will see 89.4% of the Sun’s diameter blocked from the view by the silhouette of the Moon, and with safe viewing methods will see the Sun as a thin crescent at 6:33 p.m. PDT. For detailed information, visit http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/solar.html.

During the predawn hours of June 4, a partial lunar eclipse is seen as the Moon slices through the northern edge of Earth’s reddish shadow, its southern third turning the color of all the sunrises and sunsets happening on Earth at that moment. Unlike a solar eclipse, during which the Moon’s shadow is cast only on a limited part of Earth’s surface, a lunar eclipse can be seen from wherever the Moon is above the horizon, although the observer’s location will determine how much of the event will be seen: skywatchers in Hawaii will see the eclipse from beginning to end, but those on the West Coast and southern U.S. will see it begin at 2:59 a.m. PDT/4:59 a.m. CDT, with eclipse maximum at 4:03 a.m. PDT, two hours before moonset. For observers on the East coast, the Moon sets before the end of the eclipse. For more information, visit http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2012.html#LE2012Jun04P.

A rare transit of Venus occurs on June 5, when the planet Venus passes between Earth and the Sun, allowing us to see Venus slowly cross the solar disk, which takes about six hours from beginning to end. Transits of Venus occur in pairs separated by 8 years, with the time interval between pairs alternating between 105.5 and 121.5 years. This particular transit is the second of the current pair, the last transit having occurred in 2004 and the next not until 2117. For observers in most of North America event will take place late in the day, with the sun setting while the transit is still in progress. Venus begins intruding across the Sun’s disk at 3:09 p.m., PDT, with mid-transit occurring at 6:29 p.m., PDT. Sunset for San Francisco that day is at 8:29 p.m.. about a hour before Venus moves off the Sun’s disk. For more details, visit http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/transit/venus0412.html or www.transitofvenus.org.

In 1883, composer John Philip Sousa wrote the “Transit of Venus March” to commemorate the transit of Venus that occurred in 1882. Never quite catching on during Sousa’s time, the piece languished in relative obscurity until revived more than a century later, in time for the 2004 transit. To hear a performance of this march, visit http://www.transitofvenus.org/education/music/148-sousa-composes-transit-of-venus-march.

Any solar eclipse, transit, or other activity involving looking at the Sun is unsafe to observe without proper eye protection. Do not use sunglasses, x-ray or camera film, smoked glass, or colored plastic, as they do not block the harmful infrared rays that can cause retinal damage. Consult your local planetarium, amateur astronomy club, or science museum for safe solar-viewing options or just watch the eclipse online. For eye-safety tips, visit http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/safety.html and http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/safety2.html. Lunar events, on the other hand, such as June 4’s partial eclipse of the Moon, are safe to observe directly and require no protective measures.

Although the Summer Solstice for the Northern Hemisphere occurs on June 20th, marking the longest period of daylight and what is by common usage the beginning of Summer north of the equator, some areas don’t experience the effects for several weeks or even months. This seasonal lag is caused in large part by bodies of water, which moderate temperatures. As a result, for example, San Francisco’s warmest weather occurs several months after the solstice, in mid-September and October. This is one reason why the solstices and equinoxes are considered by many to be the beginning rather than the midpoint of the seasons

- BQ

Mercury A morning object in April, Mercury rises shortly before the Sun. Look for the crescent Moon near Mercury on the morning of April 18, low in the east just before dawn. Its pass on May 20 is lost in the Sun’s glare, but just after sunset on June 21, look for the Moon and Mercury setting together in the northwest, with Mercury a out 10 degrees to the right of the Moon – about the width of your fist, held at arm’s length.

Venus Still dominating the western sky after sunset, Venus passes through the Pleiades star cluster April 2-4. Reaching greatest brilliancy on April 30, it begins its retreat toward the Sun’s glare, disappearing into the evening twilight by the end of May. Passing inferior conjunction (and transiting the Sun) on June 5, it moves into the morning sky, becoming visible alongside Jupiter by the end of June. The Moon passes near Venus on the evenings of April 24 & May 22 and on the morning of June 17, though that last encounter will be very close to the rising Sun and difficult to see, extremely low in the east just before dawn.

Mars Located in Leo the Lion, the mysterious “Red Planet” is high in the east just after sunset at the beginning of April. During the season, it makes a slow, steady march eastward, away from Regulus (the white star marking the heart of the Lion) and into the stars forming Virgo the Maiden. The Moon joins Mars on the nights of April 3, April 30, May 28, and June 25.

Jupiter As it slowly sinks into the west, submerging into the evening twilight, we bid farewell to giant Jupiter by mid-April. On May 13, it passes conjunction behind the Sun and enters the morning sky in mid-June. Look for the Moon near Jupiter on the evening of April 22 (a challenge, low in the west just after sunset). The Moon passes near Jupiter again too close to the Sun to be seen on May 20, but on the morning of June 17, it passes between Jupiter and Venus, forming a very interesting trio very low in the north-northeast just before dawn.

Saturn Replacing Jupiter as the giant planet lording over the night, Saturn is located against the stars of Virgo the Maiden, lingering not far from the star Spica, Virgo’s brightest. At opposition on April 15 (giving us SOMETHING to look forward to), it rises at sunset and is visible all night, gradually rising 4 minutes earlier from night to night and slowly progressing westward through the season. By the beginning of June, it’s in the southeast at sunset, and by the end of June is due south at sunset. The Moon passes near Saturn on the nights of April 6, May 4, May 31, and June 27, all with the bright star Spica nearby.