Skywatch Line for Monday and Tuesday March 24th, and 25th, written by Joe Slomka
This is Dudley Observatory’s Skywatch Line for Monday and Tuesday March 24th, and 25th, written by Joe Slomka.
The Sun sets at 7:13 PM; night falls at 8:42. Dawn begins at 4:52 AM and ends with Sunrise at 6:26.
The Moon occupies Capricornus on both nights. Monday’s rises at 4:29:40 PM and sets at 1:24 PM. Tuesday’s rises at 5:03 AM and sets at 2:40 PM. Wednesday’s rises at 5:32 AM. Both Moons are very close to the horizon.
Mercury experiences “Inferior Conjunction” meaning that it is too close to the Sun. Saturn, in Aquarius also close to the Sun, rises at 7:07 AM and sets at 6:30 PM; but the 5°distance makes observation difficult.
Venus and Neptune share Pisces. Venus rises at 6:44 AM, highest at 1:20 PM and sets at 7:56 PM; it blazes with minus 4th magnitude, 59 arc-minutes and 12°distance. Neptune is closer to the Sun, rising at 7:19 AM, highest at 1:12 PM, shines with 8th magnitude, 2 arcseconds, 7°high a 7 PM and sets shortly thereafter. Uranus lies midway between the western horizon and Taurus; it rises at 9:28 AM, 5th magnitude, highest at 4:39 PM, 48°in the West and sets at 11:50 PM.
Jupiter continues to inhabit Taurus, rises at 10:35 AM, glimmers with minus 2nd magnitude, 37 arc-seconds in size, highest at 6:02 PM, 63°high at 7 PM and sets at 1:32 AM. As usual, the giant planet has treats for the observer. On Tuesday, the Great Red Spot (a giant storm) is visible at 1:56 AM and again at 9:48 PM. The Moon Io begins its travels at 3:35 and ends at 5:48 AM. Wednesday, Io is occulted (hidden) at 1:50 AM and ends at 4:16 AM. Europa begins at its trek at 1:57 and ends at 3:33 AM. Ganymede marches at 1:43 AM and ends at 4:11.
Mars occupies Gemini, rises at 12:56 PM, fades from magnitude minus 0.3 to zero .4, highest at 8:38 PM, 9 arc-seconds, 66°at 7 PM and sets at 4:22 AM.
Thursday is the 370th anniversary of Christian Huygens’ discovery of the Saturnian moon Titan. Huygens was a Seventeenth Century scientific giant. His discoveries made in the fields of: astronomy, game theory and horology (time); improved spherical lenses; today, astronomers still use Huygens eyepieces. He observed the 1661 transit of Mercury across the Sun, worked on laws of gravity and light, invented the first projector, the first pendulum clock and improved the pocket watch. While Galileo first observed Saturn through a telescope, he was confused by the rings, which he called “ears”. Huygens, observing Saturn with a fifty-power telescope, was the first to call them a “ring”; later astronomers discovered gaps in the ring. Huygens even published a book on extra-terrestrial life.
For his many accomplishments, Huygens was honored. The Cassini space probe to Saturn carried the Huygens lander. Asteroid 2801 was named for him, as were a crater on Mars and a mountain on the Moon.
Clear Skies Joe Slomka