Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday March 28th through Sunday April 3rd.
The moon is new early on the morning of Friday April 1st so we’ll have a waning crescent moon for the first part of the week and a waxing crescent moon in the early evening skies for the weekend.
Mercury is in superior conjunction with the sun when it will pass behind the sun from the Earth’s point of view. After conjunction, Mercury will start to emerge in our early evening skies.
The rest of the planets visible to the unaided eye continue to only be visible in the pre-dawn skies.
Mars is rising at 5:00 a.m. with Saturn following a few minutes later and Venus rising at about 5:10 a.m. Jupiter rises at 6:30 a.m. A very thin waning crescent moon was below Venus, Mars, and Saturn on Monday morning. An even thinner crescent moon will be below and to the right of Jupiter on Wednesday morning.
Catching up with news of the commissioning of the JWST, the telescope has now completed its critical mirror alignment and is on track to meet or exceed the mission’s science goals. The telescope is expected to complete all of its alignment steps by early May and then will have about two months of science instrument preparations before the first science observations are made this summer.
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.
