March 2024 MAC Newsletter

March Sky Happenings
Last Quarter:March 3rd
New Moon:March 10th
First Quarter:March 17th
DST Begins:March 10th at 2am -> 3am
Vernal EquinoxMarch 19th at 23:06 EDT
Full Moon:March 25th, the Worm Moon
Penumbral lunar eclipseMarch 25th, max @ 3:12am EDT

Mercury - Visible in the evening sky in Pisces after the 19th.
Venus - Visible in the morning sky in Capricorn, then Aquarius after the 9th.
Mars - Visible in the morning sky in Capricorn, then Aquarius after mid-month.
Jupiter - Visible in the evening sky in Aries.
Saturn - Reappears in the morning sky in Pisces the last week of the month.
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks at magnitude 6.1 in Andromeda. Comes closet to Earth in early April. Look for it during Totality on April 8th!
Comet 16P/Tsuchinshan at magnitude 9.9 in Virgo. Moving away from the inner solar system
Mercury's best evening apparition of 2024 is on March 24th at magnitude -0.2 and 19 degrees above the western horizon.
March Sky Charts:
Mid March looking South at 9pm EDT. Image created with SkySafari 6 for Mac OS X, �2010-2018 Simulation Curriculum Corp., skysafariastronomy.com.
Mid March looking North at 9pm EDT. Image created with SkySafari 6 for Mac OS X, �2010-2018 Simulation Curriculum Corp., skysafariastronomy.com.

Chris O'Brien recently captured this image of the Rosette Nebula in Monoceros:

Rosette Nebula

Announcements:

Here's the Zoom info for the March meeting:

Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86092554565?pwd=TDgyQ0VNcTZKWi9xZ3ZxOHN4MVF6dz09
Meeting ID: 860 9255 4565
Passcode: 621416

Club dues ($20 per family for the year) are due.

Dan Malone is giving an Eclipse Presentation at Maring-Hunt Library starting at 6pm on Monday, March 4th.

The planetarium is having a workshop where attendees can build their own solar filter holders. This way you can customize them for your optical gear. They will be providing the solar film so there is a small cost. You will need to pre-registered. The event will be from 4pm to 5pm on March 13th. For the details and to register see https://www.bsu.edu/calendar/events/academics/planetarium/2024/03/13/solar-filter-workshop?date=2024-03-13

Volunteers are needed to support the club's outreach event at Minnetrista on April 8th.

The club has a few used Televue eyepieces for sale. Contact Fred Hicks, Dan Malone or Chris O'Brien if you're interested in purchasing.

Have you watched an interesting astronomy related YouTube video, listened to a podcast, or read an online article? Send me the link, and I'll share it with the rest of the club.

Are you doing astrophotography? Send me your latest images, and I'll publish them for the club to see.

Do you have equipment to sale, or are looking for a specific item to buy? Let me know and I'll get the word out to the rest of the club.



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