2019 Week 13: (March 24-March 30)

This week in the sky the Moon will dance with the two largest planets in our Solar System.

Date	Event
March 26	Jupiter 1.9°S of Moon
March 27	Last Quarter
March 28	Saturn 0.05°N of Moon

The Moon will be less than 2° from Jupiter on 26th of March.  Following that conjunction, two days later it will pair up with Saturn and even occult the ringed planet in some regions of the world.

2019 Week 12: (March 17-March 23)

This week we will experience the first day of Spring and the weather looks to be above average in Calgary.  This will allow us to clear out some snow and setup our telescopes for a good long look at the sky that we may have missed during the prolonged February cold spell.

Date	Event
March 17	Moon 0.5°S of Beehive Cluster (M44)
March 20	Equinox
March 20	Full Moon
March 21	Zodiacal Light visible in West

The Moon is a growing gibbous and will be in conjunction with the Beehive Cluster the morning of Sunday March 17.  When the Sun sets it will be approximately 8° to the west of the Moon.  This will be a great opportunity to grab a pair of binoculars and see this bright open cluster.

The Sun moves across the celestial equator at 3:58pm MST and cultures who define seasons by astronomical means may call it Spring.  We are looking at a potential 20°C this upcoming Thursday.  This will be a perfect time to get out to the University for the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada's premiere Calgary Event.  We will be hosting Fraser Cain and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in an amazing night discussing the Golden Age of Astronomy.

Peter Sim Memorial Lecture -- March 21, 2019 (7:30pm)

This should be marked on your calendar as a definite go to event.  It is completely free and open to EVERYONE.  Check out the details below.

https://www.facebook.com/events/2211662482419661/

Less than four hours after the equinox the Moon will be Full and light up the first night of Spring.  It will still be a fairly large Full Moon as it will be a little over 48 hours after perigee.

Once again the Zodiacal Light may be visible in the western sky after evening twilight.  This phenomenon can be best seen in dark sites away from the light pollution of highly settled areas.

There is a single rocket launch scheduled for this week.  A Vega rocket will be launching a satellite for the Italian space agency to support environmental and security monitoring.  This can be watched live at the following webpage: https://spaceflightnow.com/

Date	Event
March 21	Vega - PRISMA (18:50)

To keep up to date with astronomy events and news around the city follow us on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/simonjastronomy/

2019 Week 11: (March 10-March 16)

This week in the sky we have some conjunctions with the waxing crescent Moon.  Also, you have to check out the amazing public lecture next week!  It is completely free and well worth attending!

Date	Event
March 11	Mars 6°S of Moon
March 13	Aldebaran 1.9°S of Moon
March 14	First Quarter
March 14	Mercury at inferior conjunction

Mars is starting to getting much lower in the western sky as it slowly makes its way to solar conjunction in September.  At magnitude 1.3 it is not an impressive sight in the sky as it was last Summer.  The Moon will pair up with Mars on the 11th as it undercuts it by 6°.

Mars

The next night you will be able to catch the Moon cruising by the bright red star, Aldebaran which forms the eye of Taurus the bull.  The Moon will then reach First Quarter on March 14 and be worth a look through the telescope as you can make out many great features that intersect with the terminator.

The smallest planet, Mercury will pass between the Earth and the Sun as it reaches inferior conjunction the same evening.

There will be four rocket launches occurring this week.  The schedule is shown below and all launches can be watched live from: https://spaceflightnow.com/

Date	Event
March 14	Soyuz - IS-58S (13:14)
March 14	Vega - PRISMA (18:50)
March 15	Delta 4 - WGS10 (16:56)
March 15	Electron - R3D2 (16:30)

A Soyuz rocket will be taking off Baikonur Cosmodrome on the 14th carrying the next crew for the International Space Station.  Several other satellites will be launched and may be worth checking it out.

On March 21 at the University of Calgary the Royal Astronomical Society is hosting astronomy journalist Fraser Cain.  He will be discussing the Golden Age of Astronomy and highlighting the many research projects happening around the world.

We will also have a live video conference with the control room of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, one of the foremost research telescopes in the world.

Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope

For more information follow the link below.  It is open to everyone and all ages!

https://www.facebook.com/events/2211662482419661/

Stay tuned for the latest astronomy events by following us on Facebook below!

https://www.facebook.com/simonjastronomy/

2019 Week 10: (March 3-March 9)

We may be in for a warming spell this week and could be done with the cold weather for the season!  This will be great for all those northern astronomers wanting to blow the dust off their telescopes!

Date	Event
March 6	New Moon
March 6	Neptune in conjunction with the Sun

Unfortunately as the week warms up there isn't much out of the ordinary to lay your eyes upon.  The Moon and Neptune will be in conjunction with the Sun on Wednesday.  We will be unable to see Neptune throughout the entire month but hopefully it will start to peek out early in April.  The furthest planet will be in conjunction with both Mercury and Venus during the first third of April and may make a great sight for those who like hunting objects in morning twilight.

It is important to note that Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday March 10 as many across Canada lose an hour during Saturday night.  We will need to stay up later for darker skies.

As the weather gets better it may signal you need to get out to the RAO for another one of their amazing Open Houses.  The theme of the night is Radio Astronomy and Dr. Jo-Anne Brown will be giving a lecture on the topic.

Radio Astronomy

We had the fortune of listening to a version of this talk a couple weeks ago.  It is well worth the time to check it out.  For more details follow the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/events/251392049122690/

Date	Event
March 9	Rothney Astrophysical Observatory Open House - Radio Astronomy

There is another public event coming up in March that we should discuss.  The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada's Calgary Centre will be hosting our annual Peter Sim Lecture at the University of Calgary.  Fraser Cain from Universe Today will be giving a much anticipated talk on the Golden Age of Astronomy.  Also, we will be having a video conference with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope located on Mauna Kea.  This event is free and open to anyone!  Stay tuned for more details!

Peter Sim Memorial Lecture - March 21, 2019

This Spring we have many great public events planned to showcase the beautiful sky above.  Follow us on Facebook to keep up to date so you don't miss any opportunities!

https://www.facebook.com/simonjastronomy/

2019 Week 9: (February 24-March 2)

This week in the sky we have several planetary conjunctions with the Moon.

Date	Event
February 26	Last Quarter
February 26	Mercury Greatest Elongation East
February 27	Jupiter 2°S of Moon
March 1	Saturn 0.3°S of Moon
March 2	Venus 1.2°N of Moon

The Moon will reach its Last Quarter phase on the 26th of February.  After that date it will befriend several of the Solar System's planets.  On Wednesday it will be only 2° away from the largest planet, Jupiter.  Two days later it will cruise by the large ringed planet of Saturn to eventually pair up with Venus the next night.  These are sights that are visible in the early morning before the Sun rises.

The weather has been unseasonably cold for the last 3 weeks and looks to continue throughout the following week.  Astronomers in Alberta have stayed indoors to avoid the punishing throes of Winter.

Stay warm this week but if you do catch yourself out after dark take the time to look up.  The Winter sky can offer some great visibility if you can manage the low temperatures!