Lisa Will

By Dr. Lisa Will, Resident Astronomer at the Fleet Science Center

By Dr. Lisa Will, Resident Astronomer of the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center

The peak of the Geminid meteor shower occurs this weekend on the nights of December 13 and 14. The Geminids are one of the most consistent meteor showers year after year. This year there will be no bright moon to compete with so the show should be particularly good.

By Dr. Lisa Will

By Dr. Lisa Will

Get ready! During the afternoon of Thursday, October 23, a partial solar eclipse will be visible from San Diego. Less than 50% of the Sun will be covered from our viewpoint in San Diego, but the quality of light outside should be noticeably different.

By Dr. Lisa Will

If you stay up past midnight on Tuesday, October 7, and into the wee hours of Wednesday, you might be lucky enough to see a total lunar eclipse.

The eclipse will start shortly after 1 a.m. and continue until sunrise. The Moon will be in partial eclipse for most of that time, with the total lunar eclipse occurring sometime between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m.

Dr. Lisa Will is the Fleet’s Resident Astronomer. She is also an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy in the Department of Physical Sciences at San Diego City College. Dr. Will hosts our popular monthly live planetarium show, The Sky Tonight. She sat down to talk with Nathan Young about the upcoming show; the current film, Hidden Universe; and upcoming astronomical events.

NASA News From the Fleet's Astronomer, Lisa Will

Some of you may have heard that NASA's MAVEN mission to Mars was halted by the government shutdown. MAVEN has a launch window of 20 days in late November/early December when the Earth and Mars are in an advantageous alignment. If MAVEN cannot launch during this window, the mission will be delayed until 2016, when the next appropriate alignment occurs.