March Stargazing

March Stargazing Summary

Venus and Jupiter continue to bracket the sky as winter gives way to spring. Venus is the brilliant "morning star," low in the east before sunrise, while Jupiter is the "evening star," sliding lower in the west day by day. Little Mercury slides past Jupiter in mid-month. Leo, the lion, leaps proudly across the sky, and is in view all night. Some of the icons of winter remain in good view as well. Orion is in the southwest at nightfall, with Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, twinkling in the south.

More stargazing information: http://stardate.org/nightsky

Radio Program Highlights

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March 1-6: Underground astronomy. Most astronomy is conducted on high: from mountains, balloons, and spaceships. But some astronomy is conducted down low: from deep under water, under ice, and underground. Join us for details on the depths of astronomy.

March 7-13: Black holes. We have tales of several black holes this week, including a big one in a small galaxy, and a monster one in a giant galaxy. Join us for black holes, plus a man who discovered a planet using only pencil and paper.

March 14-20: planet fall. Even though Mercury is one of our closest planetary neighbors, no spacecraft has ever orbited the planet. But that's scheduled to change this week. Join us for details on the Messenger mission to Mercury and much more.

March 21-27: Lightshows. Lightning is one of the most spectacular lightshows any of us will ever see. But the fireworks don't end at the tops of the clouds. They extend high into the sky and even into space.

March 28-31: Moon meanderings. The Moon passes by the brilliant "morning star" this week - the planet Venus. They're on good display in the dawn sky. Join us for details on the Moon's meanderings plus much more on the night sky.

March Program Schedule: http://stardate.org/radio/calendars
Find an Affiliate: http://stardate.org/radio/affiliates

Public Lecture in Austin: Exploding Stars!

Stars explode once every second in the universe, often becoming brighter than their home galaxies. Though most remain undiscovered by astronomers, recently enhanced capabilities to scan the skies now detect over 10 per day. This has revealed new modes of explosions, some much brighter than we expect, and some much fainter. This talk by visiting Tinsley Professor Lars Bildsten of UC-Santa Barbara will focus on exciting new discoveries about these exploding stars and their novel theoretical interpretations. The talk will be held March 24 at 7 p.m. in room 4.102 of Robert Lee Moore Hall (RLM) on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin.

Map to RLM: http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/rlm.html

This Month in StarDate Magazine

Take a peek into the life of the French astronomer who predicted Neptune's existence before anyone spied the planet: Urbain Leverrier. We'll celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth in March. And learn about one of the least expensive, easiest to use telescopes: the Dobsonian.

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News from the Observatory

Take a peek into the life of the French astronomer who predicted Neptune's existence before anyone spied the planet: Urbain Leverrier. We'll celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth in March. And learn about one of the least expensive, easiest to use telescopes: the Dobsonian.

First Stars in the Universe Weren't Lonely

The first stars to form in the universe were not as lonely as previously thought. These are the findings of an international collaboration between researchers at the Center of Astronomy at Heidelberg University, the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching, and at The University of Texas at Austin. These results were recently published in Science magazine. The astrophysicists used state-of-the-art computer simulations to model the birth of the first stars to form after the Big Bang.

Read more: http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/2011/0203.html