Published: October 20, 2009 11:20 pm      

Astronomy Club viewing landing spots for first, last moon missions

CUMBERLAND — The Cumberland Astronomy Club concludes its 2009 series of public telescope observing sessions with two events this weekend in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing in 1969.

The first will be held on Friday at the historic Western Maryland train station in Meyersdale, Pa.

The second event, “Stars in the Park,” will be held Saturday at Field 7 in the Glendening Recreation Complex in Frostburg.

The landing areas for the first and last moon missions — Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 — will be visible both nights. The giant planet Jupiter will be well placed in the southern sky for observing and its Great Red Spot will be visible early in the evening on Friday. Uranus and Neptune, the most distant planets in the solar system, can also be observed.

First-time observers will receive a special “First Telescopic Observation” certificate from the Astronomical League and CAC in recognition of the International Year of Astronomy.

Observing will begin around 7:30 p.m. and continue until about 11 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to bring a digital camera so they can take home an eyepiece photo of the moon. If skies are cloudy, the session for that evening will be canceled.

For directions or more information, contact Steve Luzader at (301) 689-1976 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., by e-mail at s_luzader@comcast.net, or visit the CAC Web site at http://tinyurl.com/a6dqm.