Bakersfield Night Sky 2024

Tickets are still available for Thursday’s (November 21) showing of “Moon Base: The Next Step” at the William M Thomas Planetarium. “Moon Base” is about the next stage of human exploration and settling of the moon. The moon will become our first...

Tickets are now on sale for the two November shows at the William M Thomas Planetarium: “Incoming!” playing on November 7 and “Moon Base: The Next Step” playing on November 21. “Incoming!” is about the small bodies of our solar system, asteroids and...

The Europa Clipper spacecraft is now on its way to explore Europa, a moon of Jupiter slightly smaller than our moon but with big possibilities for currently existing life below its icy surface. Jupiter and its moon system is over five times farther...

Beginning last weekend, Earth has a second moon. Alas, it is to be but for just a short time! It is a small near-Earth asteroid about 10 meters across that was discovered in early August by the “Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System”, a...

We’ve now finished the second weekend of “Mesmerica” at the William M Thomas Planetarium and there are just two more Saturdays to go. At the time I wrote this, there were only a few slots left in next Saturday’s (September 21) shows and the last...

We’re now in the second week of the semester for Bakersfield College and the Fall schedule of shows at the William M Thomas Planetarium is now posted. We’re doing something different this semester. In partnership with Worlds Ltd, we’re showing...

Classes begin next week for Bakersfield College and faculty and staff have been eagerly preparing for a great new academic year. Next month I’m hoping to bring a new show to the William M Thomas Planetarium called “Mesmerica” in partnership with...

Today the moon is at new moon phase, so later this week we’ll see a crescent moon in the west after sunset. Venus is now becoming visible in the evening sky but just barely there low in the west in the twilight glow. It is right next to the...

Mercury is still visible low in the west in the evening, a fist width at arm’s length above the horizon at 8:30 p.m. but it is quickly losing altitude over the next few days. It will be gone from the evening sky, lost in the evening twilight glow...

Last Thursday was Earth’s aphelion day, its farthest distance from the sun at 94.51 million miles.  Did you feel the difference in the middle of summer? Well, probably not since our temperatures are determined by the angle of sunlight and the length...