In observance of the International Year of Astronomy, the James Madison University Department of Physics and Astronomy invites the public and the JMU community to take a free and close-up view of Jupiter from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, at the JMU Astronomy Park.
Jupiter, first viewed about 400 years ago by Galileo, is the fifth planet from the sun and the largest planet within the solar system. It is a gas giant with a mass slightly less than one-thousandth that of the sun, but is two-and-a-half times the mass of all other planets in our solar system.
Those who come out to the astronomy park, on the grassy mall beside the Physics and Chemistry Building on JMU’s campus east of Interstate 81, will have the opportunity to see Jupiter at its clearest. Ten-inch telescopes will be available for visitors to see the four large moons of Jupiter, as well as its belts and zones and the great red spot. After 9 p.m., Earth’s moon will be featured in the eastern sky.
Plenty of parking will be available in Lot D-2 across Carrier Drive from the Physics and Chemistry Building. A campus map is available at: http://www.jmu.edu/map/.
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