Davis Astronomy Club

Support Explorit on BDOG - Donate Today!

Thursday, May 7, is the last day of the Big Day of Giving event this year.

Please donate anytime today until midnight to help Explorit Science Center achieve, and hopefully surpass, our 2026 BDOG fundraiser goal of $10,000.

Any amount that you donate will be greatly appreciated and will expedite the reopening of Explorit as a hands-on STEAM community hub.

Your support is crucial in helping us fulfill Explorit's mission to inspire curiosity in science and nature within our community.

Today, your BDOG donation can go even further thanks to prize boosts and match funds like the Explorit Board of Trustees $2,500 match challenge.

Also, BDOG donation made today using your Golden 1 Credit Union credit or debit card will be proportionately matched by the credit union.

Every dollar counts! Please donate to Explorit today at the following link: https://www.bigdayofgiving.org/give/Explorit

Thank you in advance for your generosity and your ongoing support.

And a big thank you to all the wonderful 'early-bird' BDOG donors.

Also, a big shout-out to the STEAM team at Woods Rodgers, a Sacramento-based Civil Engineering firm, for their 2026 BDOG donation to Explorit.

The Explorit Board of Trustees

📧 [email protected] 🌐 explorit.org

To visit Explorit's Big Day of Giving profile page, please visit:
https://www.bigdayofgiving.org/organization/Explorit

To donate anytime directly to Explorit, please visit: https://www.explorit.org/donate or mail your donation to Explorit Science Center, 3141 5th Street, Davis, CA 95618.

Volunteers are needed for outdoor spring cleaning at Explorit on Sunday, May 17 and Sunday, May 31, from noon - 2:30pm each day.

NASA Artemis II Moon Mission & Bright Comet C/2025 R3

Saturday, March 28 | 7:00pm - 9:30pm
Explorit Science Center | 3141 5th Street, Davis

by Vinita Domier | [email protected]
NASA Solar System Ambassador

Everyone is invited to the Saturday, March 28 meeting of the Davis Astronomy Club at Explorit Science Center (3141 5th Street, Davis) starting at 7pm. All ages are welcome to attend the free public meeting comprising the featured presentation indoors and the star party outdoors where we will observe the Moon and Jupiter and other wonders of night sky.

Artemis II is NASA’s manned fly-by mission to the Moon that is scheduled to launch on Wednesday, April 1, at 3:24 pm PDT from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Planned as a 10-day lunar spaceflight with four astronauts on board, it is an important milestone marking humankind’s return to the Moon after more than half a century.

The objective of the Artemis II mission is to space test the NASA Artemis system, comprising the Space Launch System megarocket and Orion crew spacecraft, during its journey into deep space and fly-by loop around the Moon with the 4-person crew aboard. Artemis II was proceeded by the 3-week long successful Artemis I mission, launched in November 2022, that served as the initial lunar flyby test of the integrated system with no crew aboard.

For more information about NASA's Artemis II Moon mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

For live view of NASA's Artemis II at the Kennedy Space Center:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaJklsJonD4

Comet/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) is a steadily brightening comet that is predicted to be visible to the unaided eye in the predawn sky by middle of April. This comet originated in the Oort Cloud, a spherical repository shell of icy planetesimals in interstellar space between the Sun and the nearest stars. The comet is in a hyperbolic orbit in its journey towards the inner solar system; if it survives its trip around the Sun it will travel back to interspace and will not be a approach the Sun ever again.

As of end March, the comet is visible via binoculars in the Pegasus constellation, and will be at perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun, on April 19 when it will be in the Pisces constellation. The comet will be closest to Earth on April 25, when it will be between the Earth and the Sun, and will be in the Cetus constellation.

Comet/2025 R3 is projected to be visible to the unaided eye around mid-April. Look for it low in the eastern sky just before sunrise. Planets Mercury, Mars, and Saturn are also going to be visible close together in the predawn eastern sky.

For more information about the event, please contact Vinita Domier at [email protected].

For more information about the Davis Astronomy Club, please visit:
https://www.explorit.org/astronomy-club

Total Lunar Eclipse Tonight - March 3!

Tuesday, March 3 | 2:00am - 5:00am
Explorit Science Center | 3141 5th Street, Davis

by Vinita Domier | [email protected]
NASA Solar System Ambassador

Everyone is invited to a special Davis Astronomy Club middle-of-the-night total lunar eclipse viewing on Tuesday, March 3, between 2am - 5am. The event is free, open to all ages, and will be held at the Explorit Science Center (3141 5th Street, Davis) parking lot in Mace Ranch Park.

Lunar eclipses occur when the Sun, the Earth, and the full-phase Moon, in that order, line up in space. A part or the entire Moon, now in the Earth’s shadow, is obscured as it is cut off from the direct light from the Sun, resulting in a partial or a total eclipse of the Moon.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the entire Moon is in the Earth's dark shadow. During the duration of totality, the Earth blocks direct sunlight from illuminating the Moon. However, the fully eclipsed Moon is dimly lit by the reddish parts of indirect sunlight passing through Earth's enveloping atmosphere. The Moon during totality is called a Blood Moon as it appears coppery red in color.

(Solar eclipses occur when the Sun, the new-phase Moon, and the Earth, in that order, line up in space. The shadow of the Moon then falls on a region of the Earth, obscuring part or all of Sun.)

Eclipses do not occur at every new and full Moon because the Moon does not orbit the Earth in the same plane as the Earth orbits the Sun. There are two periods, about six months apart, when these three solar system bodies - the Sun, Earth, and Moon - can align to produce the celestial phenomena of lunar and solar eclipses.

In the predawn hours on Tuesday, March 3, viewers in North America can witness the spectacle of a total lunar eclipse. For local observers: the partial lunar eclipse will begin at 1:50am, totality will be between 3:04am and 4:02am, and the eclipse will end at 5:15am. Totality, when the full Moon is entirely in the Earth’s dark shadow, will last for 58 minutes.

Note that although no special equipment is needed to view a lunar eclipse, Davis Astronomy Club will have telescopes set up to look at the eclipsing Moon in detail.

For a live broadcast of the total lunar eclipse:
https://griffithobservatory.lacity.gov/event/total-lunar-eclipse-broadcast-march-3-2026/

For more information about the total lunar eclipse:
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/march-2026-total-lunar-eclipse-your-questions-answered/

For more information about the special viewing, please contact Vinita Domier at [email protected].

For more information about the Davis Astronomy Club, please visit:
https://www.explorit.org/astronomy-club