WWU Planetarium

Western Washington University College of Sciences and Technology Physics/Astronomy Dept. Bellingham, WA USA

2012 2013 Calendar 2014

Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

Presentations can be arranged for groups such as; scouts, classes, dorms, clubs, office staff, birthday parties, etc.
(minimum of 20 people or payment of $60 whichever is greater). We currently offer no public "walk-in" shows. The facility has very comfortable seating for 45 people plus room for about 10 more on the floor.

To schedule a presentation for a group, choose an open date and time on the calendar below, and then use this handy presentation request form or email.

How Much Does it Cost?
Students	$3.00	For private groups, an invoice will be issued and you can mail payment to the WWU Cashier. Make checks payable to Western Washington University. For programs scheduled as part of a WWU course curriculum there is no fee.
Non-Students	$5.00

Most planetarium presentations are strictly for people 8 years and older. However we do have programs designed specifically for the groups of younger children, such as preschool and daycare field trips.

For more information about the schedule, please email.

Presentations in Cyan

Astronomy in Gray

History in Red

Information Links in Gold

Western Washington University Planetarium

JANUARY 2013

Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

This is a good month to view the Pleiades in Taurus, also known as M45 or the Seven Sisters. The starlore associated with the Pleiades is extensive (example).

1 Earth at perihelion
closest to Sun
0.983 AU

2
Isaac Asimov born 1920

3
Quadrantid Meteor Shower

11

Trio High School
11:00AM

27
Apollo 1 fire, 1967

28
Space Shuttle Challenger lost, 1986

The sword of Orion, just below his famous belt, is where we find the Orion Nebula (more).

Western Washington University Planetarium

FEBRUARY 2013 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Zodiacal light is a pyramid of very dim light seen in the west after evening twilight and in the east after morning twilight. It is light scattered from the Sun by countless micro-meteoroidal particles along the plane of the solar system. (more) 1 Clear Lake Visions
1:00PM 2
Space Shuttle Columbia lost, 2003

3 4 Cub Scout 26
6:00PM 5
Apollo 14 lands on the Moon 1971 6 7 Clear Lake Elem
10:30AM 8 9

10
Chinese
New Year 11 WWU Ridgeway
6:00PM 12 WCC A100
6:00PM 13 14 15 Whatcom YMCA
10:30AM Galileo Galilei born 1564 16

17 18 WWU A113
6:00PM 19
Nicholous Copernicus
born 1473
(bio) 20 John Glenn
orbits Earth in "Friendship 7" 1962 21 WCC A100
6:00PM 22 Catanzaro
10:30AM
Light Homeschool
1:30PM 23 Showalter
1:00PM
Supernova 1987A Observed

24

25 26
27 WCC A100
6:00PM 28 Whatcom Home School
10:00AM
Camano Seniors
11:30AM
Aurora photo by RL.Dietz

Western Washington University Planetarium

MARCH 2013 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Leo is now high in the southeastern sky in the evening and increasingly dominates the spring sky. From northern latitudes look for the Big Dipper straight up on the zenith. (constellations)
M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy, is beautiful in telescopes or binoculars. Look 3.5 degrees southeast from the easternmost star of the Big Dipper. (galaxies)
1
2

3 4 WCC A100
6:00PM 5 6 WWU A113
6:00PM 7 8 Isom Elem
10:15AM, 11:30AM, 1:00PM 9

10
Daylight Savings Time begins for most of America 11 Cub Scouts
Pack 20
6:30PM 12 WWU A113
6:00PM 13 14 Albert Einstein born in Ulm, W�rttemberg, Germany 1879 15 16

17 18 19 Cub Scout
Pack 19
6:00PM 20
Vernal Equinox
11:02 UTC
(seasons) 21 Camano Island
Lighthouse Co-op
10:00AM 22 23

24 25 26
27 28

29 Evergreen
10:30AM, 12:00PM 30

31 March is the month of the "Messier Marathon" which is when amateur astronomers attempt to see as many of the M Objects in one night as they can. The Messier Catalog represents most of the real showpiece objects for small telescopes. Due to the position of the Sun it is theoretically possible to see all of them this month, especially around the night of the new moon when the sky is the darkest. (Messiers)

Western Washington University Planetarium

APRIL 2013 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 WACO
7:00PM 4 5 6

7 8 9 10

Apollo 13 launched, 1970 11 Mary Purcell
10:30AM & 12:00PM 12 WWU 113
11:00AM 13 WWU 113
11:00AM

14
Shuttle lands for first time (Columbia) 1981 15 16 Wilbur Wright born, 1867 17 Everson LDS
6:45PM 18 Sandelin 9:30AM

Blaine 6th grade
6:00PM 19 WWU 113
11:00AM 20

21 22
Lyrid Meteor Shower
23 24

25
Hubble Space Telescope launched, 1990 26 WWU 113
11:00AM 27

28
Saturn at Opposition (Saturn) 29 30 The Lyrid Meteor shower peaks on the 22nd at a rate of 20 per hour. Lyrid meteors radiate from a point in the sky near the bright star Vega. (meteors)

Western Washington University Planetarium

MAY 2013 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

The Eta Aquarids meteor shower peaks on May 5 but actully stretches from April 21 to May 12. It produces about 10 meteors per hour at the peak. Best viewing is after midnight. (meteors) 1
2 3 WWU 113
11:00AM Big Lake Elem
12:15PM 4
Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower

5 6 7 8 9 10 WWU 113
11:00AM
Apollo 10 launched 1969 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 WWU 113
11:00AM 18

19 20 21 22 23 Washington Elem
11:00AM & 1:00PM 24 WWU 113
11:00AM 25

26
Skylab launched 1973 27 28
Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. 29 30
31 WWU 113
11:00AM

Western Washington University Planetarium

JUNE 2013 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

The Big Dipper rises high in the northwest this month. Different cultures have different names for these stars. In the United States it is called the Big Dipper but in England it is called The Plow. In China it is The Wagon. Celtic people also call it The Wagon. American Indian tribes each had their own names for it.
(American Indian Sky)
1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17
18 19 20 21
Summer Solstice 5:04 UTC
Longest day of the year 22

23 24 25
26 27 28 29

30 Meteor explodes over Tunguska Siberia, 1908 (meteors)
Look for the bright stars of the Summer Triangle high over head this month. It consists of the first three stars you can see as it begins to get dark after sunset. The brightest star is Vega, in the constellation of Lyra the harp. Then there is Deneb, the tail feathers of Cygnus the swan. Nearest the horizon is Altair in Aquila the eagle. (bright stars).

Western Washington University Planetarium

JULY 2013 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Corona Borealis is between Hercules and Bootes, high in the summer sky. 1
Galileo files report that Jupiter has moons, 1610 2 3 4

5 Earth at aphelion farthest from Sun
1.016 AU 6

7 8 9 NWIC
1:30PM 10 Ray of Hope
1:00PM 11 12 13

14 15 16

Apollo 11 launched, 1969 17 Ray of Hope
1:00PM 18 Grandparents University
5:30PM 19 20 First humans on the Moon, 1969
(the moon)

21
22 23 24 Ray of Hope
1:00PM 25
Galileo views Saturn with a telescope, 1610 (bio) 26 Apollo 15 launched, 1971 27

28
29 30 31 Ray of Hope
1:00PM The crown represents the one that Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos of Crete, wore at her wedding. The crown was created by the supreme goldsmith, Hephaestus (greek myths).

Western Washington University Planetarium

AUGUST 2013 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

The Perseid Meteor Shower is a yearly favorite. It peaks on the 12th with a rate of 50 to 60 per hour. These meteors are actually debris left by comet Swift-Tuttle which takes approximately 130 years to orbit the Sun (comets). 1 2 3

4 5 Curiosity Rover lands on Mars 2012 6 7 8 9 10

11 12
Perseid Meteor Shower 13 14 15 16 17

18 19

Orville Wright born, 1871 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27
Neptune at Opposition (Neptune) 28 29 30 31

Western Washington University Planetarium

SEPTEMBER 2013 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18

19 20 21

22
AutumnalEquinox
20:44 UTC (seasons) 23 Neptune discovered 1846 (Neptune) 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 Another interesting autumn star is Mira, a variable star in the constellations of Cetus. At its brightest it is as bright as the North Star. At its dimmest it is invisible to the naked eye. The whole cycle takes about 330 days. (constellations)

Western Washington University Planetarium

OCTOBER 2013 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Orionid Meteor Shower peaks on the 21st. Hourly rate reaches 20. It's created by debris along the orbital path of Halley's Comet. (comets) 1 2 3
Uranus at Opposition (Uranus) 4
Sputnik, first human craft in space, launched from Russia 1957 5

6
7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14
Chuck Yeager breaks sound barrier, 1947 15 16 17

18 19

20 21
Orionid Meteor Shower 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31 Vatican admits errors in trial of Galileo, 1992 (bio)
In the south, the bright lonely star Fomalhaut shines in solitary splendor. bright stars

Western Washington University Planetarium

NOVEMBER 2013 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

The Leonid Meteor Shower peaks on the 17th. Maximum hourly rate typically reaches 10 to 15. This shower is notable for greatly enhanced activity every 33 years. The showering of gravel entering our atmosphere is caused by a river of debris left in space by the passing of comet Tempel-Tuttle. (comets) 1 2

3 DaylightSavings Time Ends First dog in space, 1957 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11
Tycho Brahe observes supernova in Cassiopeia, 1572 12 13 14

Apollo 12 launched, 1969 15 16
First message sent to M13 by Arecibo radioscope, 1974

17

Leonid Meteor Shower (meteors) 18 19 20

Edwin Hubble born, 1889 (Hubble's Law) 21
22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Western Washington University Planetarium

DECEMBER 2013 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Geminid Meteor Shower
(meteors)

15 16 17
First sustained powered flight at Kitty Hawk, NC, 1903 18 19 21

Winter Solstice
17:11 UTC

22 23 24 Apollo 8 sends message from lunar orbit, 1968 25
Isaac Newton born 1642
(Newton) 26 27
Johannes Kepler born 1571
(Kepler's Laws) 28

29 30 31 The winter Milky Way can be traced from Cassiopeia in the north, through Auriga high overhead, then south past the red star called Betelguese in Orion. (Milky Way)
Orion takes center stage. (constellations)

2012 2014