This column was provided by San Benito County resident and amateur astronomer Ronald Ober as part of a local series on astronomy. Lea este articulo en español aqui.
Wow I don’t even know where to begin this being my first article about astronomy in BenitoLink. Dave Baumgarter convinced Ron Martin, Steve Loos and me into taking on the responsibility for writing articles about astronomy that he has been doing for so many years beginning with a column in the Free lance. I don’t think that anyone can come close to stepping into David’s oversized shoes. His sense of humor and knack for connecting with people has been very much appreciated. Some of you may know me as the person that periodically reaches out in What’s Going On in Hollister as it pertains to upcoming opportunities to view the sky at the Historical Park in Tres Pinos.
Others might know me as a mental health therapist with a private practice office in Hollister. I initially got into astronomy in the early 90’s at the encouragement of my wife Susan who thought it would be good to take up a hobby. As a Trekkie I’ve always liked the idea of “Exploring Stange New Worlds” albeit with a telescope not a starship. Little did she know what this would lead to. I have grown into currently owning 4 telescopes, one telescope for looking at the sun, two telescopes for visual viewing and one telescope for astrophotography. I also have two pairs of astronomy binoculars that I strongly encourage people to consider purchasing as their first instrument for looking at the sky. For the most part I enjoy visual viewing the most and struggle with the astrophotography stuff which I find a bit daunting. David, Steve and the other Ron are much better at this than me.
I am writing this article on a cruise ship in the middle of the Tasmanian Sea halfway between New Zealand and Tasmania, Australia. Oddly enough this first article will focus mostly on what you would see in the Southern Hemisphere where everything in the sky is upside down and backwards. The moon waxes left to right and the Orion Constellation is upside down with Betelgeuse the big red giant star on the bottom right.
It’s hard to wrap your head around all of this but you have to love it. There are a number of objects in the Southern sky that you simply can’t see in Hollister. The Southern Cross replaces Polaris (the North Star) when orienting your telescope for proper guiding. Our satellite galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud, named after the famous explorer Magellan who circumvented the world is a great example of a sky object that can only be seen in the Southern Hemisphere. This article includes a picture of the LMG and I hope you enjoy it. As I write this article the Cruz Ship is rocking back and forth. I need to either drink more so I don’t feel like I’m drunk or grab the rails to keep from falling over. As I have gotten older my balance has definitely gotten worse.
At least part of this article is supposed to fucus on what you can see in Hollister. March and April are considered to be the galaxy months in as much as they are not hidden by our arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. Most of the galaxies can be found in the constellations of Leo the Lion and Virgo. The big event of the month will be on March 3rd when there is a total lunar eclipse. You’ll need to get up pretty early in the morning at 3:38 am to see it, even earlier if you want to watch its progression into a blood Moon.
On March 10 th the Moon will be very close to the star Antares located in the constellation Scorpius or if you are a Moana fan the big hook. The moon with be in apogee on the 10th (e.g., at its farthest distance from the Earth at 251,273 miles). On March 22 the Moon will be in perigee (closest to the Earth at 227,954 miles). Planets visible in March include Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Saturn and Mars. Daylight savings time starts on March 8th so set your clocks forward and prepare for less sleep. Wishing all of you clear skies.
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