Letter from the President

BVAC - Spring 2020 - Letter from the President

Ah, springtime. The days are getting longer, the weather starts warming, and the flowers start blooming. It is also the time for star parties and Messier Marathons. We start to say goodbye to the Great Square and Cassiopeia and start welcoming the Leo and Virgo clusters of galaxies. Orion will be on full display in the southern skies during the evening hours. That is one of the first things I always point my scope at this time of year. The Big Dipper is standing on its handle in the northeast and Merak and Dubhe (the two outer bowl stars) make god pointers to Polaris.

There are several events that you might want to catch this season. The club plans to host a Messier Marathon in March (weather permitting). That doesn't stop anybody from trying to do their own. If you don't feel like staying up all night, you can always surf around in Leo and Virgo and see how many of the M objects you can find and define. Also, for early risers, there are a couple of conjunctions happening at the middle and end of March. On March 18, Jupiter, Mars and the moon will be within 4 degrees of each other. This will be during a waning crescent moon. On March 19 and 20, Mars and Jupiter will be within 1 degree of each other. The same will happen again with Saturn and Mars on March 31 and it will be a waxing moon. With the moon out in the evening, it should be good viewing. Jupiter will also be very close to M75. Just something else to catch at that early in the morning. On the morning of April 15, the moon again comes within 5 degrees of Saturn and Jupiter. The moon will be a waning crescent.

One other event happening on April 22 - 23 will be the Lyrid meteor showers. This is an average meteor shower, but it is happening during a new moon. We haven't been too lucky with the last few meteor showers as they have occurred during bright moons. Find a dark sky with a good reclining chair and face east. Lyra doesn't rise until about midnight, but there may be some coming from that direction before then.

Happy hunting and remember that it is getting warmer so don't forget the bug spray.

Clear Skies,

Warren Bracewell
President, Brazos Valley Astronomy Club

Warren Bracewell serves as president of the Brazos Valley Astronomy Club. Warren is an active participant in astronomy related community outreach activities. In the photo above, he set up his telescope on a rainy night under a covered area at Lick Creek Park and demonstrated to enthusiastic participants how a telescope works.