Upcoming Programs

We do programs on Friday and Saturday nights from March through November, weather permitting.

Because we have limited space for cars, free parking passes are required on program nights.

Space is infinite, our parking area is not.

https://registration.jgap.org/

If the date you wish to go is marked “full” note that we often release additional passes for programs on the Wednesday before each weekend.

(The JGAP grounds are open for individual stargazing on non-program nights.  Please feel free to come on in.  Parking passes are not required.  You may bring chairs, telescopes, cameras and tripods if you wish.)

March 28-29: Celestial Dogs: Canis Minor and Canis Major, the big and little dogs, are well placed for viewing tonight. Come learn about the second brightest star in the sky, Sirius (the sun, of course, is the first) and the star clusters and nebulae in these often overlooked constellations. Also, the Great Orion Nebula. (8:00 PM)

April 4-5: The Rugged First Quarter Moon: The line between night and day on the moon, the terminator, runs right down the middle of the moon this Friday. This brings the mountains, valleys and craters on its surface into stark relief. On Saturday evening we may get a chance to see the “Lunar X” a strange light and shadow feature that makes a bright “x” out of the rims of two craters. Also, Mars and Jupiter. (8:00 PM)

April 11-12: The Micro Moon: You’ve probably heard of a Super Moon, a full moon that occurs when it is a bit closer than usual to the Earth. This month, with the moon a bit further away than usual, we get a Micro Moon. Also Mars and Jupiter. (8:00 PM)

April 18-19: The Celestial Beehive: High overhead on spring nights, in the heart of Cancer the Crab, is a strange fuzzy blob just visible to the naked eye in the dark skies of JGAP. In binoculars and small telescopes, it blooms into a beautiful star cluster. Also, we’ll be saying goodbye to Orion. (8:15 PM)

April 25-26: Leo the Lion: Perhaps the oldest of the western constellations, Leo is perfectly placed. Leo lies in the

direction of many galaxies, like the pair M65 and M66. We will be hunting down these objects this weekend in dark skies.(8:15 PM)

May 2-3: The Asteroids: The name “Asteroid” comes from the ancient Greek word meaning “Star-like”, and they do, indeed look like stars. This weekend, one of the brightest of them, Vesta, is well placed for viewing. It’s small, and looks just like a star, but if you observe it multiple times you’ll see that it does something that stars do not do: move. Also, the rugged crescent moon. (8:30 PM)

Saturday March 29 Program Cancelled due to Clouds

Hi gang,

You know what they say about "April Showers.”

Well, in Ohio, April-ness starts in March. Alas, this weekend is no exception to that.

And, since the star of our program is… the stars… we are at the mercy of the skies when conducting our observing programs.

Alas, the forecast calls for cloudy and rainy skies on Saturday March 29, so we are cancelling the program.

Our parking

Because we have limited parking, free passes are required for our public programs on Friday and Saturday night. Passes for upcoming programs can be found at:

http://registration.jgap.org

If the date you wish to go is marked “full” note that we often release additional passes for programs on the Wednesday before each weekend. Note: The process has recently changed. The additional passes will be added to the single program listing, rather than appearing in a second listing down at the bottom of the list. We hope this will reduce confusion.

Space is infinite, our parking area is not.

Note: If (and only if) you are staying in the Hocking Hills State Park Cabins, or the Hocking Hills Lodge, you may walk over for the program without a pass.

Solar Max is Here!

On the night if May 10, 2024 from around 9:30 to about 11:00 the sky at JGAP (and pretty much everyone else in the USA) was filled with pink, red and green lights, from high energy particles getting trapped in Earth's magnetic field and slamming into the atoms in our upper, tenuous, atmosphere.

Since that date, Ohio skies have been graced by two more strong displays.

Why are we getting so many aurorae lately? We are, as of this month, experiencing Solar Maximum, the time when the sun is at its most active and it is spraying out more of the atoms which lead to aurorae back here on Earth.

Here's some recommendations if you want to see an aurora in the future:

Go to Spaceweather.com and read the forecast. This will give you an idea of what is coming up and what activity is probable. When conditions are particularly favorable I’ll post updates on our Facebook page and here on this website.

For up-to-the-minute forecasts, check out this graph- the “auroral oval” of predicted activity regularly (refreshing the page each time), and, if you, you see that giant green and red blob has reached down to at least northern Ohio (assuming you're in Ohio) then something is going on and you should go out and look.

Here's the link: https://services.swpc.noaa.gov/.../aurora-forecast...

Note that auroral forecasts in the media are often given for events that will produce aurorae only for regions that are far north of Ohio. In other words, they are often overly optimistic. It is best to watch the auroral oval and go out when the forecast is good for your particular region.

Bright aurorae in Ohio are very rare, with dramatic displays occurring only a few times per decade, on average. The good news is that the strong displays that we see at our latitude are often the most colorful.

Where to go:

Find a place away from direct lights. Away from the city is best. JGAP might work, but we often get very, very crowded when events like this take place (Sorry.) Do not come during the program time (8:00 PM - 11:00 PM or so) unless you have a parking pass for the show or you will be squeezing out people who have already reserved spots. (Space is infinite, our parking is not.)

If the moon is half-full to fully-full (somewhere between first quarter and full moon on your calendar) then going far into the country will not get you much improvement, as the bright moon itself is a source of light pollution.

When to go:

The intense displays of auroae do not always last a long time (The May 10 display was strong for about 90 minutes. or so). If you get in the car and drive a long way (say, to JGAP) by the time you arrive things may have calmed down and you may miss the best part of the show. Get out as soon as you can, find a place that is as nearby as possible, but still dark,

Importantly, take driving time into consideration . Literally >hundreds< of people arrived at JGAP after 11:30 on May 10, having set out an hour before, and missed the show because it had died down by the time they arrived.

What to bring:

Surprisingly many modern cell phones (especially the ones that have "night photography mode" do a great job with displays like this, and might actually reveal color when your eyes see only a diffuse grey blob. (Turn the screen brightness way down, though). This is one astrophotography situation in which they work great! Other than that, just your eyes and maybe some warm clothes and a folding chair are all you’ll need.

Do not bring:

A flashlight. That will ruin your night vision and you won't see it as well. Or bagpipes.

Good luck aurora chasing!

Parade of the planets

Support the Friends of the Hocking Hills State Park

Do you love the Hocking Hills State Park? Would you like to help projects that make HHSP an even better place? Do you love JGAP?

Then consider joining The Friends of the Hocking Hills State Park, an organization that supports projects like JGAP and other enhancements to the most beautiful park in Ohio.

http://www.friendsofhockinghills.org/

Join our Facebook and Instagram Communities

We have a Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/JohnGlennAstronomyPark/?ref=bookmarks

… and an Instagram Page

https://www.instagram.com/jgastropark/

On both we are regularly featuring items of astronomical interest.

If you have questions that you’d like addressed in these feeds, feel free to Facebook Messenger them to us!

Get up-to-date information and astronomical news on our Facebook page

Predicting the Weather

The Clear Sky Clock

The chart below is an hour by hour prediction of how clear the skies will likely be over the coming two days. Cloud cover and transparency are the critical data points. In general, dark blue is best. If both transparency and Cloud Cover are indicated as dark blue, then skies are likely to be clear and filled with stars. Lighter colors are proportionally worse.

In recent months, the predictions of the Clear Sky Clock have been somewhat unreliable, so use at your own risk.

Astrospherics

Another great site for predicting conditions on an hour by hour basis is Astropherics, whose model of late is better than that of the Clear Sky Clock. Access JGAP’s location with this link:

Astropherics for Logan, OH

Weather.Gov

Finally, the best site for predicting the weather is the site from which all the data comes from in the first place, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s forecast page. The best forecast for JGAP is the Logan, Ohio hourly pinpoint forecast. Find it here.

The most critical part of the forecast is the blue line which represents the predicted cloud cover for that hour. Generally 50% or higher is not good.

Incidentally, Weather.gov is a product of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has suffered devastating cutbacks in recent days that may undermine its very existence. NOAA provides data that commercial services call upon for their own forecasts as well as conducts research that helps improve forecast models in the future. Please consider speaking up for it.