Almost March Already

Cant believe it but we made it (almost) through February already. Hope nobody froze to death or got buried in snow. lol It was pretty rough for a few days though.
As I indicated last month I would like to tell you about our plans for our Science Center and Hubble Museum, at the new Planetarium we want to build. A lot of people in this area are satisfied with the status quo and are happy with the educational opportunities available in southwest missouri, but I am not. I feel as long as China is graduating 42% of their students in math, science and physics, and we are only graduating 4-5% in the same fields, something is wrong. Are our students less intelligent? I don't think so. I feel that it has to do with culture and opportunity to be exposed to the wonderful things these disciplines can engender. I grew up in the era of the Apollo moon missions. At that time it was a lot of kids dreams to be an astronaut or be involved in space. But those times have changed. And not for the better. Children need to get back to believing that anything is possible, and not that everything is known if you just Google it.
Our Science Education Center will focus on trying to inspire the creative genius in every child that visits. And to teach them it is alright to ask questions and if the answer is not known, hey, maybe I can figure it out. We will have space camps, after school programs and AVI equipped classrooms. We will be able to show live feeds from NASA, such as the shuttle launch coming up thursday or the recent flyby of comet Temple 1. Sure you can get it on the NASA channel on direct tv. But how much cooler with a classroom of other kids getting everything explained, and why it's important. If you talk to anyone involved in space or science they were inspired by a look through a telescope or a visit to a planetarium. In our programs there will be not only space but physical science, and of course math and engineering emphasized.
We will also have a Hubble museum, most think that Hubble built the Hubble telescope, but no he grew up in Marshfield, Mo. and made many important observations about how our universe works. The telescope that bears his name was an honorarium to him. In the museum we will be celebrating Mo's contributions to astronomy. Sharpley was another famous astronomer from Missouri as well as 4 Astronauts that have ties to Missouri. And I think most schoolchildren have no idea about this. We will teach them.
The sky this month.
March:
The second half of March will bring the best views of Mercury available for a while. Look for it next to Jupiter in the early evening before they set. After the 19th Mercury will still be visible in the western sky after Jupiter has set.
In early March Saturn will be visible in the eastern sky about an hour after twilight fades.
Venus will dominate the morning sky but only about 2 hrs. fading to 75 minutes before sunrise the rest of the month. And for visual observing that's about it, for the month. Please think about a set of good binoculars or a small telescope as there are many other objects to observe with a little help.
Oh, and the vernal equinox occurs at 7:21 EDT March 20. This is the start of the Norther Hemispheres spring!!  Woo Hoo finally.
Remember keep looking up
Larry

The Winter Doldrums

Sometimes I think if I didnt look at the night sky, I would swear winter would never be over. But fortunately the groundhog in Pennsylvania, and Orion slipping farther and farther down earlier and earlier tell us that no matter how cold and snowy Spring is on its way. I do trust Orion much more than the groundhog by the way. And yes, we cant see the night sky as well as we would like to right now, but anticipation builds for when we can? When our planetarium is built we will be able to bask in the night sky in comfort and clarity. For those of you who arent familiar with a state of the art digital (domed theater) think of an Imax that projects the image on a bowl over your head, and 360 degrees around you, basically you enter inside a ball with the bottom cut away. This accurately portrays the sky dome that you see when outside. Now picture almost anything that can be shown on a screen, from astronomy shows that land you on the surface of Mars, courtesy of the Mars Rovers to flying out to the edge of the imagined Universe where our Milky Way Galaxy is just a part of the starry background. Also immersive natural science type productions. I like to imagine the lions eating, or flying to Angel Falls in Africa. And a huge amount of productions fictional or not of space adventures. And all of this in the highest definition video, with tremendous sound qualities. I could go on and on as you can tell.
The sky for Febuary:
Not to much spectacular for visual observers, buy a pair of good binoculars, under 100.00 ask me where, and you can see so much more.
The 19th thru mar. 6, look up at the  eve. sky about 80 minutes after sunset, clear skies required. Look to the western horizon and you might see the zodiacal light, good for pics. with a digital camera also. You might see a tall pyramid of pearly light sloping slightly to the left, following the path of the eliptic. (the path the planets sun and moon basically travel) with Jupiter shining at its base. Very nice. This is the light reflecting off the upper atmosphere as the sun drops.
The 20th and 21st, Saturn, and the star Spica will form an equilateral triangle with the moon about 40 minutes before dawn. So get up early.
Let me know if you want tips for bino. viewing or more information on deep sky observing. Just tell me what you want and are interested in the most, next month I will let you know about the Science Education Center, and Hubble Museum that will be part of our project.
Until then remember KEEP LOOKING UP
Larry