ONU Observatory events are always at the mercy of the weather. Organizer Jason Pinkney reports, "The first one was cancelled because of cloudy weather. The next one is supposed to be THIS Friday at 7-9 pm, but it looks like it will be clouded out as well."
If the weather should cooperate, the program is as follows. To check on the official status, visit HERE.
Friday, Mar 7, 7:00-9:00 p.m. "Mercury joins the party"
The planets have been putting on a good show so far this winter. In early February, all of the planets except Mercury were above the horizon just after sunset. Now, in March, Saturn has become unobservable, but Mercury has joined the planet party, reaching Greatest Elongation East on Mar 8. So on March 7, we will hold a viewing, free to the public, in which we train our 'scopes on all of these planets. Mercury will only be 12 degrees above the horizon at 7 pm and set within an hour. So you'll have to arrive early to catch a glimpse of this elusive planet. On the bright side, the waning gibbous Moon will be right between Jupiter and Mars in the sky. All 3 will be easy targets during this ONU Observatory event.
The third public event is planned for March 28.
