okobservatory.bsky.social
@okobservatory.bsky.social
Mon Nov 17 The Leonid meteor shower will peak after midnight tonight. The Leonids are known as among the fastest meteors, hitting the Earth's atmosphere head on. The Leonids are not a strong meteor shower with only around 10 - 15 streaks per hour but this year Luna will be out of the way.
November 17, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Fri Nov 14 Since we’re entering a dark moon period, this will be one of the last opportunities to view the faint Zodiacal Light, a delicate glowing triangle of light extending up from the easrtern horizon about an hour before sunrise. 1/2
November 14, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Tues Nov 11 You may hear reports of an occasional bright fireball this month. If you’re lucky enough to see one yourself, it’s likely a member of one of the 2 Taurid meteor showers, the southern one peaked on Oct. 29-30 but still continues through to Nov 20. 1/2
November 11, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Sun. Nov. 9 – The moon, now in waning gibbous phase will find herself among interesting company tonight. Not only will she be in a straight line below Castor and Pollux in Gemini, but brilliant Jupiter will provide the leg of a capital ‘L’ off to the lower right.
November 9, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Thurs. Nov. 6 – If you have a notion to have a look at the inner ice giant Uranus, tonight would be a good time to choose since the Moon and the stars of Taurus will provide a bit of a road map. The small pale green disk will form a triangle with the Moon and the Peiades.
November 6, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Wed Nov 5 This is Full Moon night and Luna will look down from high in the sky among the stars of Aries for any signs of an early winter. So she can make sure, Luna is now at perigee, the closest part of her orbit from the Earth and may be noticed to look a bit more impressive because of it.
November 5, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Tues Nov 4 Another opportunity to catch ‘the Demon Star’ in one of its blinks. Algol in Perseus, high in the E, will reach its minimum brightness in a 2-hr period centered at 10.12pm. Compare its its regular brightness before 9pm with its dimmer self around 10.30pm and the difference will be evident
November 4, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Sun. Nov. 2 – Luna’s waxing gibbous face will be high in the sky tonight as our neighbour passes above bright Saturn amongst the faint stars of the ‘water constellations’ below Pegasus.
November 2, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Wed. Oct. 29 – This is First Quarter Moon night and Luna will celebrate it by surveying Okanagan fall scenes from among the faint stars of Capricorn low in the southern sky.
October 29, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Mon. Oct. 27 – Depending on how low your eastern horizon is, there’ll be a dramatic rising late tonight with bright Jupiter posed just below the Gemini Twins Castor and Pollux.
October 27, 2025 at 3:50 PM
The Okanagan Observatory is now closed for the 2025 season. Thanks for visiting and hope to see you again when we reopen in Spring 2026. ocrasc.ca okanaganobservatory.ca @okobservatory @okobservatory.bsky.social
October 24, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Mon Oct 20 The Orionid meteor shower will peak tonight and early tomorrow morning and our friend Luna will be nowhere to be seen. The shower radiant is from near Orion’s club to the upper left of Betelgeuse. Orionids can yield about 20-40 fast moving meteors per hour 1/2
October 20, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Sun. Oct. 19 – Depending on how low your eastern horizon is, there’ll be a dramatic dual rising of a very thin crescent Moon and brilliant Venus just as dawn is beginning to break this morning.
October 18, 2025 at 3:48 PM
The Okanagan Observatory will not be open tonight, Fri Oct 17. The next night for free public viewing will be Fri Oct 24. Check the Event Phone, 250-300-8759, that day for updates. ocrasc.ca okanaganobservatory.ca @okobservatory @okobservatory.bsky.social
October 17, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Thurs Oct 16 We are still in the fall Zodiacal Light season. With the dark moon period underway, if you have a clear view of the E horizon you might be able to glimpse the faint light reaching up from the horizon into Cancer and Gemini before morning twilight sets in. 1/2
October 16, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Wed Oct 15 Tonight offers another chance to catch ‘the Demon Star’ in action. The eclipsing binary Algol will reach its minimum brightness in a 2-hr time period centered around 9.30pm. See it in its full glory before 8.30pm, then revisit it around 9:30pm to observe it in its dim mode.
October 15, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Tues. Oct. 14 – Early risers this morning will have a visual treat waiting for them in the pre-dawn sky. The just past Last Quarter Moon will be found in the company of brilliant Jupiter to her lower right, while the Gemini Twins Castor and Pollux will form a set of triangles with the pair.
October 14, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Sun Oct 12 Algol will do its slow blink tonight. ‘The Devil Star’ will reach its minimum brightness in a 2-hr period centered around 9.42pm tonight. The brightness of Algol can be compared with its neighbouring stars in Perseus before 8.30pm and then revisited for its dim phase sometime around 10pm.
October 12, 2025 at 5:35 PM
The Okanagan Observatory will not be open tonight, Fri Oct 10. The next night for free public viewing will be Fri Oct 17. Check the Event Phone, 250-300-8759, after 3pm that day for updates. ocrasc.ca okanaganobservatory.com @okobservatory @okobservatory.bsky.social
October 10, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Thurs Oct. 9 Tonight the waning gibbous Moon will be get up close and personal with the beautiful Pleiades cluster, so close that she’ll occult some of the members as the evening progresses. Too bad that Luna will be so bright since observing the occultations will be made difficult by the glare.
October 9, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Mon. Oct. 6 – For those who’d like to get a look at Neptune in their telescope’s eyepiece, tonight the Full Moon and Saturn will provide handy fingerposts. The small blue dot of the outer ice giant will be positioned on a line joining Luna and the ringed planet, and will be located quite close to 1/
October 6, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Sun. Oct. 5 – Luna will be celebrating this fall night in the company of Saturn just left of the circlet of Pisces. This might be an invitation to view them both with your telescope!
October 5, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Fri Oct 3 There will be a number of opportunities this month to observe transits or shadow transits by the 4 Galilean moons of Jupiter. One happens tonight. It will be a double shadow transit by the black dots cast by Io and Europa from 11.49pm until 1.17am.
October 3, 2025 at 4:43 PM
The Okanagan Observatory will not be open tonight Fri Oct 3. The next night for free public viewing will be Fri Oct 10. You can check the Event Phone, 250-300-8759, after 3pm that day for updates. ocrasc.ca okanaganobservatory.ca @okobservatory @okobservatory.bsky.social
October 3, 2025 at 4:32 PM
New Observers to Visual Astronomy (NOVA) Mini Sessions!
Are you new to Astronomy? Do you find the night sky amazing and want to learn how to observe it? At the beginning of each Kelowna monthly meeting, 7:30-8:00 pm, we will be having mini beginner astronomy sessions. 1/2
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Okanagan Centre
ocrasc.ca
October 1, 2025 at 9:16 PM