The current gate closure time is 7 p.m. After that time, a code is needed for park entry (& access to the astronomy field).




Useful and Handy Charts and Sky Maps

These Monthly Sky Charts give an overall view of the night sky, some with additional observing lists for objects visible for the times and dates indicated.

Print these charts to plan your next observing session and take them with you if you’re heading out to the field. And if you have a complete set of charts from the last 12 months, use the second page as a useful target list. There are collections each month for naked eye, binocular and small telescope objects. These lists are great for beginners and also serve as a list for suburban skies too.

We’ll try and have these updated regularly and available for you as soon as we can scrounge them up.

Monthly Target Lists

These lists , from www.ngc891.com, contain Open and Globular Clusters, Bright and Planetary Nebula, Gallaxies and the occasional Double Star. Use these if you need a little something to get you beyond the usual M objects. We’ve grouped the Monthly Target List with the appropriate Trion charts, in the next section, to help locate the listed objects.
If any Solar System Objects appear on the charts, remember that over time, these objects will wander, so don’t trust those positions. Also the sep. Trion Charts may have more objects listed than appear on the Monthly Target Lists.

Trion Charts

These 26 Sky Charts are from www.ngc891.com – Each Chart shows a portion of the night sky with an additional target list for each chart. Although these charts don’t have the resolution of some of the expensive printed charts, we’ve put them here to make them conveninet for you to use.
Be sure to look at the Whole Sky Chart and Legend for an orientation to how these charts are arranged and the Object types and symbols used on the charts .

Print these out for use on the field or at home to plan your next observing session. While the location of Stars and Deep Sky Targets will be reasonably well depicted, remember that the position of any Planets shown may not be accurate as they move about against the background Stars. Also the charts 24 through 26 may not be mush use to us in the Northern Hemisphere, but one of you may be lucky enough to venture south, and we wouldn’t want you to go unprepared.