Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday February 28th through Sunday March 6th.
The moon is new on Wednesday March 2nd, so we’ll have a very thin waning crescent moon to start the week and then we’ll have a waxing crescent moon low in the early evening skies for the latter part of the week.
Jupiter is in conjunction with the sun on Saturday the 5th and then will begin to slowly emerge in the early morning skies and join the rest of the planets visible to the unaided eye.
Venus is rising at 4:20 a.m. followed by Mars at 4:35 a.m.
Mercury and Saturn will be less than a degree apart on Wednesday morning when the pair will be rising just before 6 a.m. The very thin crescent moon will be near Mercury and Saturn on Tuesday morning.
In space anniversaries this week, Wednesday March 2nd marks 50 years since the launch of the Pioneer 10 spacecraft on its mission to Jupiter. Pioneer 10 became the first spacecraft to travel through the asteroid belt, to fly past Jupiter, and to achieve escape velocity from the solar system. The final communications with Pioneer 10 were in January 2003 after a mission of over 30 years.
Public viewing at the 16-inch reflector on top of the Physics, Math, and Astronomy building (formerly RLM) is on Wednesday nights currently from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. PMA is located on the southeast corner of Dean Keeton and Speedway. Take the elevator to the 17th floor and follow the signs to the telescope. Masks are encouraged while visitors are in the building and in the telescope dome.
Public viewing at the 9-inch refractor at Painter Hall is on Friday and Saturday nights currently from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Painter Hall is located on 24th street about halfway between Speedway and Guadalupe and is northeast of the UT Tower. Reservations will be required on Friday nights at the Painter Hall Telescope this semester. Please see the website outreach.as.utexas.edu and click on “Public Viewing on UT Campus Telescopes” for more information. Saturday nights will be open without reservations.
Note that viewing times and availability change throughout the year so please check the schedule before planning a visit. Observing events are weather permitting. Please call 512-232-4265 for weather cancellation information, which is updated 30 to 45 minutes before the scheduled viewing start time.
Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers Report.
