MOORPARK : Comet’s Impact on Jupiter to Be Viewed

A program at the Moorpark College Observatory this weekend will give residents a chance to see the planet Jupiter through the observatory’s telescope before and after it is hit by the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

On Friday, there will be an informal discussion and picnic starting at 6 p.m. on the grounds around the observatory on the campus, 7075 Campus Road. At sunset, telescopes will be set up to look at Jupiter, a day before the comet is expected to strike the planet.

“We’ll see what the planet’s atmosphere looks like before it is hit,” said Hal Jandorf, an astronomy instructor at Moorpark College. “This will be a sort of before-and-after program.”

An unusual stream of 21 comet fragments--each the size of a mountain--will begin striking Jupiter on Saturday, continuing over the next five days. A second program at the observatory scheduled Sunday will look at how the first fragments to strike the planet will affect its atmosphere.

Sunday’s program will begin at 8 p.m. and last until 10:30 p.m., when Jupiter sinks too low on the horizon to see. Jandorf said the program will include a discussion about comets that have struck the Earth, such as the comet that some scientists believe caused the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

There will be a $3 charge for those attending Sunday’s program. Observatory officials suggest that children under age 6 may be too young for the program. For information and updated conditions for star-gazing, call the Ventura County Astronomical Society’s Star Line at 529-7813.