| Event ID: | 28875 |
| Contact Name: | Marcelo Zurita |
| Contact Email: | marcelozurita@gmail.com |
| Contact Phone: | +55(83)99926-1152 |
| Organization: | Associação Paraibana de Astronomia |
| Event Web Site: | http://apapb.org |
| Dates: | 5th October 2019 to 10th October 2019 |
| Physical Event: | Yes |
| Type: | Public |
| Start/End Type: | Both Starts and Ends During WSW |
| Country: | Brazil |
| State/Province: | Paraiba |
| City: | Joao Pessoa |
| Address: | Praca da Paz, Bancarios, Joao Pessoa, Paraiba, Brazil |
| Location: | Praça da Paz |
| Event Name: | Moon Saturn Conjunction Observation |
| Event Description: | A public observation of conjunction of Moon and Saturn throught telescopes. The event is open for people of all ages and starts at 17:30 of October 05. |
| Promotional Image: |  |
| Report on the Results: | On Saturday night, 05, Moon and Saturn were in a beautiful conjunction in the sky. For a strip that passed through the south of Brazil, the moon even occults the planet, while here in Paraíba, only one approximation occurred, which we call conjunction. In João Pessoa, the Marcos Jerônimo Study Center, the Paraiban Astronomy Association and the IFPB Center for Astronomy Teaching and Research organized a public observation, making their telescopes available at Praça da Paz. The event, which started at 5:30 pm, was part of the celebrations of World Space Week and the International Observe thr Moon Night and was attended by audiences of all ages. Unfortunately, the weather conditions were not very favorable. Clouds and rain disrupted the observations all the time and led Professor Marcos Jeronimo to give up to take his equipment, wich was larger and more difficult to assemble and dismantle. However, the NEPA telescope, a 200mm Celestron C8 was mounted and was one of the main attractions in Peace Square. In addition, the event was also attended by other telescopes brought by the public. At the time of the maximum approximation Moon and Saturn were separated by a distance of only 14 ′ (fourteen arc-minutes) to the observers here in Paraíba. For an idea of how close this is, the moon has an apparent diameter of 30 ′, and stretching the arm on Saturday night, we could hide Moon and Saturn with the tip of our little finger, which measures about 60 ′. During the observation, the present audience can contemplate all the beauty of the conjunction through the telescope, while enjoying both the craters of the moon and the rings of Saturn. Using greater magnification in the telescope, it was possible to observe the two objects in details, in addition to Jupiter and its Galilean moons. The event, despite the instability of the weather, was very fruitful. It had about 120 people, including adults and children, but the enthusiasm of observing the stars through the telescope was equally in all. This leads us to imagine the excitement Galileo Galilei had when he observed Saturn for the first time over a telescope over 400 years ago. The fact is, astronomy enchants and moves humanity from the moment we look at the sky for the first time and certainly continues to enchant us until the last look. |
| Attendance: | 120 |
| Attendance is Unique: | Yes |
| Media Impressions: | 1 |
| Media Impressions are Unique: | Yes |
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