Well, it has certainly been a while since I posted, and for that I apologize. I have seen the stars very little since my last post, as we have had one of the wettest, coldest and cloudiest winters in several decades.
Now that Spring is here, things are getting better. Spring officially began at 12:32 P.M. Central Daylight Time on Saturday, March, 20th. Spring begins at the Vernal Equinox, when the Sun crosses the Plane of Earth's equator moving from South to North. On that day, the day and night will be almost exactly the same length (measured from sunrise to sunset, and vice-versa.) The term equinox actually means "equal night".
At this time of year Mars is the obviously reddish object high in the sky after sunset, near the zenith and close to Castor and Pollux, the two brightest stars in the constellation Gemini, the twins. Click on the pictures below to see sky charts for the objects we are discussing here.
At the same time extremely bright Venus will be setting in the West, preceded by dim Mercury. To see Mercury, you will need a very low western horizon, and probably binoculars.
Also just after sunset you will find ringed Saturn rising in the East.
Saturn will be the first object you can see low in the East just after sunset. If you have clear dark skies you will notice that it has a beautiful buttery yellow color once it has risen higher in the sky. With even a small telescope the rings are quite obvious, and you will probably be able to see Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
I hope you will go out and look up to take advantage of the spring evenings.
Steve
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