2018 Week 12: (March 18-March 24)

Visual astronomy has been very difficult throughout the past few months. There has been a near record amount of snowfall dumped on the city of Calgary.

Hopefully we will have some clear skies next week and we can see some of the following things.

Date	Event
March 18	Venus 4°N of Moon
March 20	Spring Equinox
March 22	Aldebaran 0.9°S of Moon
March 24	First Quarter
March 24	Star Night at the Park - Glenbow Ranch

I have been disappointed in the weather this Winter and apparently Spring is upon us.  The Spring equinox occurs on Tuesday at 10:15 MDT.  The southern hemisphere will dip into autumn and they can have some cold weather for awhile.  Once the snow clears it is a great time to get out the telescope.  The sky still gets dark relatively early and the weather will continue to get warmer.

The Moon will be in the western sky during twilight and will be particularly close to Venus on March 18.  Also, if you have yet to catch Venus and Mercury dancing in the sunset sky be sure not to miss it.  Mercury is once again moving toward conjunction with the Sun and we'll only be able to naked eye it for about 1 more week.

Mercury and Venus in the Twilight Sky at Sunset

The above image is the sky on Tuesday evening just after 8:30pm.  Mercury and Venus will fit in the same binocular field.  Venus will be almost full at 96% and Mercury a waning crescent at 23% illumination.  The weather is supposed to be mild and it will be a perfect time to go for a walk with the western horizon in view.  You will see Earth, Venus and Mercury.

I went to the ridge last week and had the opportunity to take a picture of this event.

Mercury (top), Venus (middle), Earth (bottom)

Other than having your last shot at seeing Mercury in the evening sky there is a lunar conjunction with Taurus' eye star, Aldebaran.  Several places in the world will actually see the Moon cover the bright red star.

An event that you should not miss is the Star Night in the Park at Glenbow Ranch.  This is a great opportunity to get out and see the sky through many different telescopes.  Details of this event can be found below:

https://www.facebook.com/events/806270429573001/

As the end of the week nears the Moon will be at its first quarter phase.

The weather is supposed to be less snowy this week but that isn't saying too much.  Hopefully the above freezing temperatures can slowly melt our way out of this wet Winter.