Spring is in the air...

Last night (3/17/2010) was absolutely beautiful. At dusk, it was clear, crisp and calm. Temperatures ranged in the mid to lower 50s. The winter constellations of Orion and Taurus are slowing slewing to the west as spring constellations begin to rise from the east like Virgo and Coma.

Mars is still sitting high in the sky and unmistakable at sunset. I took extra time in viewing the 4th planet from the sun. After close inspection for about five minutes (letting my eyes further adjust to the darkness) I began to see what appeared to be slight dark patterns. They would come and go as the planet moved in and out of focus due to atmospheric conditions. I felt a little like Percival Lowel, a famous Astronomer about 110 years ago who thought he saw canals on the red planet and thus was convinced there as life on Mars. Still, I was disappointed that even with a 10” aperture there is not much detail to observe. I also experimented with a #25 red planetary filter and though it isolated Mars nicely, it was inconclusive that more detail was discernable.

Venus is now visible in the western sky at sunset. Our 2nd planet from the sun should begin to rise in March. On previous observations, Venus was in varying degrees of phase much like our moon. I have noted in the past that both Mercury and Venus have phases due to its relation to the sun and earth. This time Venus was at full exposure but there was something very interesting to observe: Whether it was because of its low position near the horizon and atmospheric conditions were involved; a very discernable orange shadow was visible – much like a crescent, it was quite a contrast as compared to the usual bright yellow color that is Venus. So in essence, the planet exhibited it normal yellow, featureless color but on one edge there was almost a burnt orange crescent color that blended into the majority of yellow – possibly a shadow? The start of a phase?

I also viewed M78 in Orion, a diffused nebula at 8.0 mag. This object has proved elusive in the past. I was able to make out two bright points within the object and some evidence of gas which appeared to be surrounding proto stars? I also enjoyed M93 in Puppis. M93 is a dazzling open cluster at magnitude 6.5.