Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday March 21st to Sunday March 27th.
The moon is at third quarter late on Thursday the 24th here in Texas so we’ll have a waning gibbous moon for the first half of the week and a waning crescent moon in the early morning skies for the weekend.
All of the planets visible to the unaided eye are still up in the morning, but Mercury will soon go into conjunction with the sun and move back into our evening skies.
Venus, Mars, and Saturn are all near one another in the morning skies with Mars and Venus both rising a little after 5 a.m. and Saturn following at 5:30 a.m.
Mercury and Jupiter will be about a degree and a half apart on Monday morning but are rising only 25 minutes before the Sun. Jupiter continues to move away from the sun after conjunction a few weeks ago and Mercury is moving towards conjunction next week.
In space anniversaries this week, Sunday March 27th marks 50 years since the launch of the Venera 8 spacecraft which became the second mission to successfully land on the planet Venus. The mission retuned data from Venus for 50 minutes before succumbing to the extreme temperatures and pressures on the surface.
Public viewing at the 16-inch reflector on top of the Physics, Math, and Astronomy building (formerly RLM) is on Wednesday nights now from 8:30 to 10:30 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.
Public viewing at the 9-inch refractor at Painter Hall is on Friday and Saturday nights now from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. Painter Hall is located on 24th street about halfway between Speedway and Guadalupe and is northeast of the UT Tower. Take the elevator to the 5th floor then take the stairs up to the 6th floor and follow the signs up to the telescope.
All events are free and open to all ages and no reservations are required. 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.
