March SkyLights

Hello fellow SkyWatchers:

For the next few weeks, the standout object of the night will be the ringed planet, Saturn. Look due east after sunset. The brightest object that looks like a star, fairly low in the East, and the first object that becomes visible in the East after sunset will be Saturn. If you don’t have too much light pollution, you can tell it has a pale, butter yellow color. If the weather cooperates and the sky is clear, Saturn will be prominent for our next scheduled SkyWatch event at MOSI, Saturday April 4th from 8 pm until 10 pm.

We will also have the telescopes out again, weather permitting, Saturday April 11th beginning at 8 pm for the “400 Years of the Telescope” event we are having in cooperation with WEDU. We will be part of the world premier of the new documentary of the same title, and will also debut the new full-dome planetarium show “Two Small Pieces of Glass”. Tickets will be on sale soon and seating will be limited, so keep an eye out for your opportunity to purchase tickets.

Venus is about to leave our evening sky and transition to a morning object. However, there is an unusual opportunity on the 25th of March to see Venus in both the morning sky and the evening sky on the same day. You will need clear skies and a very low horizon both to the East and the West. If you look 5 degrees (half the width of your closed fist held at arms length) above the horizon in the East just before sunrise (7:28 am), and 5 degrees above the horizon in the West just after sunset (7:44 pm), you should be able to see Venus glowing in the twilight at both times. This opportunity only happens every 8 years. Venus is a thin crescent now, and you may need to use binoculars to find it in the twilight glow. Once you locate it with the binoculars, you should be able to see it with just your eyes. Be very, very careful not to look at the Sun with binoculars, a telescope, a camera, or for more than a quick glance with just your eyes or you will permanently damage your retina.

Also, spring officially begins at 7:44 am this Friday, March 20. This is the time of the Vernal Equinox, when the Sun crosses the plane of Earth’s equator moving from South to North. On that day, the day and the night will be almost exactly the same length (measured from sunrise to sunset, and vice-versa.)


MOSI Sky Guy

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Welcome to the MOSI Sky Guy blog. Here, I will be posting comments and information about what is happening in the sky, interesting objects to view, what's happening at MOSI in The Saunders Planetarium, MOSI SkyWatch and other space science related events.